MAKERS O 
THE NATIO 






□ F-^E-^C 



4i> 




nass_,V •^flj 

Cop\Tiglil X" -_ 



GOPYKICHr DliPOSIT, 




READING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 



MAKERS 
OF THE NATION 



BY 



FANNY E. COE 

TEACHER IN THE BOSTON NORMAL SCHOOL; AUTHOR 

OF "SCHOOL READERS," "MODERN EUROPE," 

"FOUNDERS OF OUR COUNTRY" 




AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 

NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO 



. C 6 ^ 



Copyright, 1914, by 
FANNY E. COE. 

Copyright, 1914, in Great Britaii 



MAKERS OF THE NATION. 

E. P. I 



JUN20lSf4 

©CI.A37454I1 



PREFACE 

The course of study for fifth-year pupils, as outlined 
by the Committee of Eight of the American Historical 
Association, comprises one hundred years of our national 
life, from the struggle opening the Revolution to the 
death of Lincoln. The century 1765 to 1865 offers 
ten decades crowded with great characters, filled with 
momentous events, rich in moral and economic con- 
tent. Heroes of all types are here: the frontiersmen, 
Boone and Clark, Crockett and Kit Carson ; the 
statesmen, Adams and Washington, Jefferson and Lin- 
coln ; the inventors, Whitney and Morse ; the men of 
great business sagacity, Peter Cooper and DeWitt 
Chnton ; the generals, Lee and Jackson, Grant and 
Sheridan. Furthermore, a study of five mammoth 
industries of the United States offers a closing chapter 
of economic value, in harmony with the present day 
recognition of the importance of industrial history. 

The endeavor in this book has been to present his- 
torical facts by clear, vivid narrative, which at times 
becomes dramatic in character. Moreover, the language 
is such as is easily read and understood by a child of 
ten. Whenever practicable, the causal relation is 
emphasized. 

The Committee of Eight makes the following 
recommendation: " In Grades IV and V the biographi- 
cal element should receive emphasis. Leaders, heroes, 

5 



6 PREFACE 

and patriots should be identified with great movements 
and important situations. But in every case the share 
of the leader should be made the strong feature ; for 
in that way historic truth makes its strongest appeal 
to the young." In accordance with this suggestion 
the few poHtical documents or institutions which are 
studied in this volume are hnked with the careers of 
the men who were most concerned with their creation, 
— as the Declaration of Independence with Thomas 
Jefferson, and the Constitution with George Washing- 
ton. 

The moral education of the young is perhaps the 
object of keenest concern to-day. Books, pamphlets, 
magazine articles, suggested courses in citizenship, 
good will, and character building are being projected in 
many sections of the country. It has been well said 
by the Committee of Eight that ^' the moral element is 
of surpassing importance in history. Truth has its 
supreme embodiment in personality. Therefore special 
emphasis should be given to personal force, because it 
is truth in the concrete and the great life principles as 
they have been embodied in individual men that win 
the deep interest of the boy or girl in the grammar 
school." 

To reveal these " great Kfe principles " is the aim 
that has been constantly in the mind of the author. 
The hope is that " Makers of the Nation " may furnish 
some shght aid to teachers who are endeavoring to 
estabHsh worthy ideals in these junior citizens in our 
schools. 



CONTENTS 



Henry of the Silver Tongue 

Samuel Adams, "The Brain of the Revolution" 

Benjamin Franklin, the "Grand Old Man" of America 

Paul Revere, the Messenger of the Revolution 

Ethan Allen, the Robin Hood of Vermont 

Washington sets Boston Free 

The Declaration of Independence 

The Service of Nathan Hale 

General Nathanael Greene 

Daniel Morgan .... 

The Story of Saratoga 

Greene and Morgan in the South 

Francis Marion, the Swamp Will o' the Wisp 

John Paul Jones, the Founder of the American Navy 

Lafayette, the Servant of Mankind . 

Daniel Boone of Kentucky . . . . 

Life on the Mississippi ..... 

NoLiCHucKY Jack of Tennessee 

Qeorge Rogers Clark, the Washington of 

Valley 

In Old Vincennes and Kaskaskia 
George Washington, Our First President 
How a Capital City was Chosen 
How Eli Whitney invented the Cotton Gin 
The Purchase of Louisiana .... 
The Exploration of Louisiana 
Thomas Jefferson as a Scientist 
The Gaining of Florida .... 

7 



THE Ohio 



CONTENTS 



Kit Carson 



America 



Robert Fulton and the Steamboat 

The Coming of the Steam Railroad 

The Building of the Erie Canal 

The Invention of the Telegraph 

Stirring Times in the Southwest 

Fremont, the Pathfinder, and His Guide, 

Wonderful News from the Frontier 

Spanish Missions in the Southwest 

Daniel Webster, the Greatest Orator of 

John C. Calhoun, the Great Nullifier 

Henry Clay, the Great Peacemaker . 

Abraham Lincoln, the Man of the Hour 

Robert E. Lee, Commander of the Confederate Armies 

Four Civil War Generals : 

Ulysses S. Grant . 

Thomas Jonathan Jackson 

Philip H. Sheridan 

James E. B. Stuart 
Great Industries : 

A Word about Cotton 

The Story of Bread 

A Word about Cattle 

A Word about Coal 

A Word about Iron 

List of Dates . 

Books for Further Reading 



MAKERS OF THE NATION 

HENRY OF THE SILVER TONGUE 

You have read of the French and Indian War. 
The result of that contest was a great victory for 
England, and Canada was added to her other posses- 
sions in the New World. 

The next war in America was that known as the 
American Revolution. Because of England's oppres- 
sive acts the thirteen colonies united against their 
mother country and, after a long and gallant struggle, 
won their freedom. General George Washington was 
our great leader in the field. With noble aids like 
Greene, Morgan, Marion, and Putnam he brought vic- 
tory out of what seemed like certain defeat. 

But there were other leaders in the contest besides 
those with swords at their sides. These men perhaps 
never saw the foe ; nevertheless they did yeoman serv- 
ice at home. They were able lawyers and politicians 
who thought profoundly over the changing political 
situations and then spoke their minds so eloquently 
and convincingly to the people that one and all fol- 
lowed where they led. It was they who influenced 
the colonists to object strongly to England's unjust 



lO PATRICK HENRY 

measures. It was they who, when the many petitions 
had failed, declared our country an independent 
nation. 

America was rich in great men one hundred and 
forty years ago. Nearly every colony had noble 
political leaders. Two of them, however, stand pre-, 
eminent, one at the south and one at the north. They 
are Patrick Henry of Virginia and Samuel Adams of 
Massachusetts. Let us see how these men came to 
be leaders, even of the leaders. 

Patrick Henry was born in Hanover County, Vir- 
ginia, in May, 1736. He was a lad "who liked work 
as Httle as a colt liked the cart." He hated books and 
learned very little in the school which he attended. 
No mark of the great man seemed upon him. He did 
chores, went barefoot in summer, swam, sang, and 
fought like any other Hanover County boy. 

At fifteen he began to earn his living. He worked 
in a store in order to learn the trade. Then his father 
set him up in business with his older brother William, 
who was idle and less capable than Patrick. Alto- 
gether the firm was not a strong one and soon failed. 

Patrick next tried farming and then made a second 
unsuccessful attempt at storekeeping. 

Strange to say, he seemed not the least depressed 
by his series of failures. He played the fiddle at social 
gatherings, sang, danced, and talked as gayly as if his 
prospects were most brilliant. 



HENRY OF THE SILVER TONGUE 



II 



Soon he made a new decision. He would go into 
the law. Possibly his tongue might serve him better 
than his hands had done. Perhaps no one 
/ ever slipped more easily into the legal pro- 
fession than Patrick Henry. He spent six 
weeks reading a couple of law books and 
then was admitted to the bar. 

Patrick Henry was at once busy with 
clients. The people of his native county liked 
and believed in him, notwith- 
standing his previous 
failures. But his fame 
began with that noted 
case of 1763, known as 
the ''Parsons' Cause. '^ 
Let us try to understand 
the right of this case. 

In those old days 
money was scarce and 
it was the custom of the people to pay for what they 
bought with tobacco, potatoes, grain, and any other 
product. As tobacco was the great crop of Virginia, 
the salaries of the ministers were paid in that staple. 
When the price of tobacco was high, the parsons were 
well off ; when it was cheap, they often suffered pov- 
erty. But the lean and fat years evened matters some- 
what in the long run, and the parsons were content. 
During the French and Indian War less planting of 




Patrick Henry reading law. 



12 PATRICK HENRY 

tobacco took place, as many men were away fighting. 
It was easier to pay the ministers cash. In 1755, 
consequently, the legislature passed an act allowing 
this to be done. Three years later they allowed the 
same again. This year, however, tobacco was sold 
at an advanced price. Had the parsons been paid in 
tobacco, they would have received the value of three 
times what was actually given them in cash. They 
loudly protested, and their complaints reached England. 

King George III examined into the matter and at 
once proclaimed the Virginia legislature to be in the 
wrong. He declared the acts of 1755 and 1758 null 
and void, since he had not approved of them. The 
parsons were overjoyed. One of them. Rev. James 
Maury, brought suit to recover the portion of his 
salary due him. There was no question about the 
law. The acts of 1755 and 1758 were plainly illegal, 
and Mr. Maury won his case. It only remained to 
settle the amount to be paid him, his ''damages," as 
the term is. 

The citizens who had opposed Mr. Maury had asked 
a comparatively unknown lawyer to speak for them. 
He was Patrick Henry. 

It was a most exciting occasion. All the countryside 
was there, eager to hear the plea and to learn the amount 
of the damages. Strangely enough, Mr. Henry, Senior, 
was the judge before whom his son was to plead. 

Patrick Henry arose awkwardly. His first sentence 



HENRY OF THE SILX'ER TONGUE 13 

fell haltingly, almost stumblingly, on the ear. People 
looked ashamed and sorry for the young man who had 
thought he could speak in court. His father hung his 
head. ^'Poor Patrick," he thought, "a failure at law 
too." 

But suddenly a change came over the speaker. He 
grew erect, dignified ; his gestures were full of grace and 
power ; his eyes flashed ; his face was aglow with feeling ; 
his voice was deep and musical ; and his words rushed 
forth like a mighty torrent. Eloquence ! They heard 
it then, if never in their lives before. Courage ! Men 
turned pale at his bold words, for he dared to question 
the right of the king to annul these two laws of the 
Virginia legislature. George the Third was tried and 
found guilty by Patrick Henry, the obscure young 
lawyer of Virginia. ''When a king becomes a tyrant," 
he cried, ''he forfeits all right to obedience." A few 
cried "Treason," but little notice was paid them. 
Henry had swept almost the whole court room to his 
side. 

The test came with the decision of the jury. They 
awarded the Rev. James Maury one penny damages ! 
This satirical verdict but emphasized the prestige 
Henry's eloquence had won for him. 

Two years later we find Patrick Henry, at the age of 
twenty-nine, a member of the Virginia legislature. 
He entered the legislature in 1765, a year that is always 
known as the " Stamp Act year." The English govern- 




"Suddenly a change came over the speaker. 



14 



HENRY OF THE SILVER TONGUE 15 

ment was embarked on a short-sighted poKcy that 
deeply angered every liberty-loving colonist. The 
circumstances were these. 

The French and Indian War had left England with 
a heavy debt. Some of this debt had been incurred 
in her defense of the colonists. The Americans were 
not poor ; why should they not help to pay the debt ? 
Consequently Parliament laid a stamp duty on all 
legal papers. This meant that if a man made his 
will, a stamp must be bought and placed upon the 
document before it could be legal. If a man bought 
land, the deed of the purchase must bear a stamp. 
Notes, mortgages, marriage certificates, — in fact all 
legal papers, — were worthless without the stamp. 
These same stamps were sold by stamp officers, and 
the money they collected in this way belonged to 
Great Britain. 

The colonists did not object to the stamp duty in 
itself. They were willing to help pay the debt of Eng- 
land, and a stamp tax was as easy a way of gathering 
in the money as could be thought of. The whole 
difficulty lay just here. The Stamp Act had not been 
laid upon them by their own legislatures. In other 
words, they had not been consulted. They had been 
taxed without representation, for the stamp law had 
been passed in the English Parliament where no dele- 
gates from the new world took counsel with the law- 
makers of England. 



1 6 PATRICK HENRY 

The news of the Stamp Act reached America in 
May, 1765. The Virginia legislature would soon dis- 
solve. It was necessary that the members consider 
the important act before separating to their homes. 

The leaders of the house seemed reluctant to move 
in the matter. Patrick Henry, however, was not 
afraid. He read several resolutions of marvelous 
clearness and power. These resolutions asserted that 
Americans had all the rights of Englishmen ; that Eng- 
lishmen could be taxed only by the consent of their 
representatives in Parliament ; that the government, by 
taxing the people in America who were not represented 
in Parliament, was striking a tremendous blow against 
the liberty, not of America alone, but of England as 
well. ''Beware," thundered Henry, "lest you lose 
what your English forefathers won over five hundred 
years ago !" 

In his address Henry said, ''Caesar had his Brutus, 
Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third 
— " "Treason, treason," cried the speaker and several 
members. Patrick Henry looked sternly around as 
he finished his sentence — "may profit by their exam- 
ple ! If that be treason, make the most of it." This 
adroit close, leaving the orator still master of the situa- 
tion, was magnificent. The incident forms one of the 
most splendid moments in the history of our Revolution. 

The resolutions passed by a very small majority. 
Copies reached the other colonies and appeared in some 



HENRY OF THE SILVER TONGUE 



17 



of the newspapers. Woodrow Wilson says, "Henry's 
words were the first words of a revolution and no man 
ever thought just the same after he had read them." 
''Virginia rang the alarm bell of the continent," 
remarks Bancroft. This was true. Although war 
did not break out for ten years, the first resistance 

to the mother country was at 
,, this time. 

England was not successful 
in carrying out the Stamp Act. 
The colonies opposed it so stoutly 
■^^'^ } Sif that the law was repealed in 
S^35|| j' ^ 1766. England stated at the 
'^^^^^^^ time, however, that she had a 
n'./!J''{V '. ^ J^^ perfect right to tax the col- 
^ 4^^ omes whenever and how- 
ever she chose. 










Patriots burned the hated stamps. 

Patrick Henry always considered his Stamp Act 
resolutions as the greatest deed of his life. During 

COE M. — 2 



l8 PATRICK HENRY 

the next twenty years, however, he was constantly serv- 
ing Virginia and the other colonies. 

His unflinching patriotism nerved others to stand 
fast. In that splendid and gallant colony of Virginia, 
Patrick Henry was certainly the flower of her early 
leaders. As Thomas Jefferson says: "He left all of 
us far behind." 



{Pennyj 
T 

Stamps in use in 1765. 




SAMUEL ADAMS, "THE BRAIN OF THE 
REVOLUTION" 

" A man who in the history of the American Revolution is 
second only to Washington." — John Fiske. 

In the first chapter we read of the services to his 
country of Patrick Henry, the great southern leader. 
Let us now learn something of the life of the great 
northern leader, Samuel Adams. 

Samuel Adams was born in Boston in September, 
1722. As his father was a man of wealth and influence, 
Samuel was given the best education possible. He went 
to the Boston Latin School and later to Harvard College. 
His mother wished him to become a minister, but it 
was decided that he should have a business career. 

Now there was one thing that Samuel Adams, tal- 
ented as he was, could not do. That was to make 
money. This was because he cared nothing whatever 
about getting rich. His mind was so taken up with 
thoughts of justice, government, and the rights of 
man, that he grew poorer and poorer and finally 
failed in business. But his private misfortunes 
weighed little upon Adams's mind. He was much 
more concerned over the troubles between Massachu- 
setts and England. 

19 



20 



SAMUEL ADAMS 



There was agitation over the Stamp Act, not only 
in Virginia, but also in Massachusetts. The year be- 
fore the Stamp Act became a law, 
Lord George Grenville had declared his 
purpose to bring such a bill into Par- 
liament. This was in March, 1764. 
It took two months for the news to reach 
America, for there were no steamers in 
those days. 

In May, the first word of remon- 
strance came from Adams. In a 
Boston town meeting he presented 
resolutions which denied the right of 
England to tax Amer- 
ica when there were 
no representatives 
from the colonies in 
Parliament. They also 
urged the several col- 
onies to unite in order 
to secure the righting 
of their wrongs. 
Thus a year before Patrick Henry spoke in Virginia 
against the Stamp Act, Samuel Adams was writing 
against the threatened evil. His great watchword was 
^' union." 

Four years later he adopted a second watchword. 
This was " independence." For some time he had been 




Old South Church. 



*'THE BRAIN OF THE REVOLUTION" 21 

thinking that perfect freedom from English rule was the 
only possible cure for the difhculties between the mother 
countr>^ and America. In 1768 he said so openly. 

In the town meeting, in the legislature, in the clubs, 
and in the street, Adams was meeting men and molding 
their opinion. His learning was great, his words con- 
vincing, and, strongest of all, his mind was made up. In 
these times of shifting opinions, here was one man who 
knew what he wanted and was not afraid to say so. 

He valued the common people and respected their 
opinion. He would talk with the mechanic or the 
laborer as long and as earnestly as with the man of 
wealth and position. Thus he built up a wonderful 
following. He came to be the great Massachusetts 
leader, with thousands at his back. Modest and un- 
selfish, all he sought was the best good of the Old Bay 
State and of her twelve sister colonies. 

Boston was a turbulent town in those days. In 
1768 England sent over two British regiments to main- 
tain order. The people of Boston did not like to see 
the redcoats in the streets. They felt insulted. 

Nothing serious, however, occurred until the evening 
of the fifth of March, 1770. A barber's boy had jeered 
at a British officer passing through King Street. A 
sentry stationed near by had knocked him down. A 
small crowd of rough young men and boys began to 
pelt the sentry with stones. ''Kill him ! Kill him !" 
they shouted in a most threatening manner. 



22 



SAMUEL ADAMS 



The sentry was alarmed and called for aid. Colonel 
Preston and seven soldiers came to his assistance and 
lined themselves up beside him, facing the crowd, 
which had by this time increased 
to the number of fifty. The mus- 
kets, however, did not daunt the 
mob. They pressed forward and 
struck the guns with sticks, at 
the same time shouting and call- 
ing upon the redcoats to fire. 
In the confusion the soldiers 
thought that Preston had 





^^ 



Hutchinson urged the angry citizens to disperse. 

given the order to shoot, and discharged their arms. 
Five citizens were wounded and three killed. There 



"THE BRAIN OF THE REVOLUTION" 23 

they lay, their blood staining the whiteness of the 
newf alien snow. 

A moment of horror and then all the city arose. 
Bells were rung, peaceful citizens left their homes to 
swell the crowd in the streets, now hundreds strong. 
Feeling was at boiling point, and there was danger of a 
great riot. 

Hutchinson, the governor, acted promptly and 
wisely. He ordered the arrest of Preston and his men. 
Then from a window of the State House, he assured 
the angry throng of citizens that justice should be 
done and urged them to disperse quietly to their 
homes. 

The next day saw multitudes of people gathering 
for a town meeting in Faneuil Hall. This was no 
day for farming or shopkeeping, for the life and liberty 
of Boston citizens were in danger. The numbers were 
so great that it was necessary to adjourn to the Old 
South Church. 

A committee was chosen to go to Hutchinson and 
insist that the regiments be removed from the town. 
John Hancock was chairman of the committee, of 
which Samuel Adams was also a member. Hancock 
was a young man of position and wealth, whom Adams 
had won over to the cause of liberty. 

The committee met governor, commander, and coun- 
cilors in the Old State House. A group of splendid 
men they were in their rich velvets, gold and silver 



24 SAMUEL ADAMS 

laces, white wigs, and scarlet cloaks. The governor 
told the committee that he would remove one regiment, 
the offending one, but that he had not the power to 
remove the other. That must remain. 

The Old South Church could not contain all the 
people ; the streets near by were thronged. The crowd 
made way for the committee on its return to the church. 

As Adams led the way with hat in hand, bowing 
first to one side and then to the other, he exclaimed, 
''Both regiments, or none ! Both regiments, or none ! " 
Thus he gave the people their cue. 

Later, in the church, when Hutchinson's reply was 
given, the crowd shouted with all their might, "Both 
regiments, or none!" And with this answer, so sat- 
isfactory to Adams, the committee returned. 

What followed was a personal contest between 
Hutchinson and Adams= All the other Englishmen 
yielded ; the governor alone resisted the demand of the 
town meeting. Then it was that Adams's force of 
will was shown. Pointing at Hutchinson, he exclaimed 
with flashing eyes: "If you have the power to 
remove one regiment, you have power to remove both. 
It is at your peril if you do not. The meeting is com- 
posed of three thousand people. They are becoming 
impatient. A thousand men are already arrived from 
the neighborhood and the whole country is in motion. 
Night is approaching. An immediate answer is ex- 
pected. Both regiments, or none !" 



THE BRAIN OF THE REVOLUTION" 



25 




" Both regiments or none ! 



Then, at last, Hutchinson gave way. He saw that 
Samuel Adams represented that strange new force, 
the power of the people, and he paled before him. As 
Adams said later, in talking over the event with 
Dr. Joseph Warren, "I observed his knees to trem- 
ble, I saw his face grow pale, and I enjoyed the 
sight." 

The two regiments were at once removed, and then 
the town meeting broke up. The work of the day was 
well done. From that March day in 1770, these two 
regiments were always known in Parliament as the 
^'Sam Adams regiments." 

For some years England had laid a tax upon tea, 
but the American people had refused to buy the article. 



26 SAMUEL ADAMS 

The women steeped all sorts of herbs and roots at their 
tea drinkings. Cheap as British tea was, no true 
patriot would drink it. 

In the fall of 1773 King George determined to "try 
the question with America." Loaded tea ships were 
sent to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Charles- 
ton. Agents were appointed in each town to receive 
and sell the tea. A strong wave of indignation swept 
the country from Maine to Georgia. Public opinion 
forced the agents to resign in all the towns but Boston. 
There the agents were built of sterner stuff. Conse- 
quently Boston, and Boston alone, was to beard the 
king of England. 

By December first, three tea ships had sailed up 
the harbor and anchored at Grififin's Wharf. The 
patriots were determined that the tea should never be 
landed. The friends of the king were equally deter- 
mined to unload the ships. The latter party, however, 
had the advantage. By law no loaded ship could re- 
main in harbor over twenty days. At the end of the 
twenty days the harbor authorities had to discharge 
her cargo. Governor Hutchinson and the agents could 
thus afford to play a waiting game. 

But all through these trying days there was wonderful 
self-control on the part of the people. No hand was 
raised against the timid, shuffling owner or the ob- 
stinate agents. Boston citizens were guided by the 
law. They knew the danger to American liberties ; but 



*'THE BRAIN OF THE REVOLUTION" 27 

a strong hand was at the helm. They trusted their 
pilot, Samuel Adams. 

On December sixteenth, the last of the twenty days, 
seven thousand people gathered in and around the 
Old South Mee ting-House. They had come to see 
this thing through, — to stay all night if necessary. 

The ship Dartmouth had arrived two or three days 
before her sister ships. She only could have the 
cargo unloaded in the morning. 

The captain could not leave the town without a 
clearance. Such a paper was to be obtained only from 
the collector of customs or from the governor. The 
collector had refused the paper. Consequently the 
town meeting directed Rotch, the owner, to interview 
the governor. 

Hutchinson, knowing the importance of time, had 
left town. He was now at his country home in Milton. 
Rotch was ordered to seek him there. During his 
absence the meeting considered what should be done 
in case Rotch failed in his errand. At five, it was 
unanimously voted that the tea should not be landed. 

It was now rapidly growing dark ; candles had been 
lighted ; still the thousands waited quietly in their 
places. At length Rotch appeared and reported the 
governor's refusal. 

Then, amid profound stillness, Samuel Adams arose 
and said quietly but distinctly, ''This meeting can do 
nothing more to save the country." 



28 



SAMUEL ADAMS 




Three guests at the " Tea Party." 



Almost as an echo to his words, came an Indian war 
whoop. Fifty men, disguised as Mohawk Indians, 
hurried by the church and on to Griffin's Wharf. 
Eager with curiosity, the crowd followed after. 

There in the moonlight they beheld the Indians 
boarding the ships, breaking open the chests, and 
emptying the tea into the harbor. The people were so 
still that the click of the hatchets could be distinctly 
heard. By nine the task was over; three hundred 
and forty-two chests v/ere empty. The great question 
was settled. This was the famous Tea Party for 
which Boston was to pay a severe penalty in the 
near future. 

In the next few chapters we shall catch other 



"THE BRAIN OF THE REVOLUTION" 



29 



glimpses of Samuel Adams, the man to whom ''all 
good Americans should erect a statue in their hearts." 

"Boston led the thirteen colonies. Who led the 
town of Boston ? He certainly ought to be a memo- 
rable figure." 

History replies, ''It is the noble Puritan statesman, 
Samuel Adams, the Man of the Town Meeting." 




1"^" ^ 



Tea-Party" tablet in Boston. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, THE ''GRAND OLD 
MAN" OF AMERICA 

Last year you read an account of Dr. Franklin's 
life. Let us briefly recall some of his deeds before 
considering the great services that he rendered to the 
colonies during the Revolution. 

Benjamin Franklin was a Boston boy who learned 
the trade of printing. He was not happy with his 
brother, to whom he was apprenticed and, at the age 
of seventeen, he ran away from home. He went first 
to New York and then to Philadelphia. The latter 
city was henceforth his home. 

Franklin continued the business of printing and was 
so successful that he was able to retire at the early age 
of forty-two. For many years he published Poor 
Richard's Almanack. This almanac contained col- 
lections of the pithy sayings of all nations and all 
times. It was widely read, and the American people 
gained much from pondering its wise saws. 

Franklin was made postmaster-general of the colo- 
nies. He improved the service greatly and actually 
made it pay. 

Not only was he an able business man ; he was a 
student of science as well. His greatest discovery was 

30 



THE "GRAND OLD MAN" OF AMERICA 31 

that lightning was a form of electricity. For this 
discovery he was given a degree and so was henceforth 
known as Dr. Franklin. 

The first great political service of Franklin was the 
framing of a plan of union for the colonies. This was 
offered to a convention that met in Albany 
in 1754. The French were occupying 
land claimed by the English, and it 
seemed wise to England to call the A* 
richest and strongest colonies to meet ^ f^ 
in convention. They were to . ^a 

attend to two matters: to make ^i^" ^^T 
a treaty with the Iroquois and to 
establish closer relations among 
the colonies. 

Franklin drew up a plan of union 
which was laid before the dele- 
gates for discussion. The idea .^£ 
was not original with him, but Franklin and his kite, 
many of the details were his own. 

There were to be a governor-general for all the colo- 
nies and a congress made up of delegates chosen by each 
colony. 

This plan was accepted by the convention, but 
neither the colonies nor the mother country ap- 
proved of it. Each thought the other was given too 
much power, so it was not adopted at this time. The 
league which the colonies afterwards entered into, 




32 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 

while carrying on the Revolutionary War, was not 
unlike Franklin's plan of union of 1754. 

Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams spoke and wrote 
against the Stamp Act. Benjamin Franklin also re- 
sisted that unjust measure. In 1764 Pennsylvania 
sent a petition to the king and chose Franklin to be the 
messenger. He landed in England a few months 
before the Stamp Act went into effect in March, 1765. 

Franklin was so wise, so persuasive, so good-tem- 
pered, and so tactful that many Americans had high 
hopes that he might influence those in authority to pre- 
vent the passing of the bill. ''But," wrote Franklin, 
"I could no more hinder the passage of the bill than I 
could prevent the sun from setting." 

The colonies acted as a unit. They refused to use 
the stamps and they also refused to import certain 
goods from the mother country. People dressed in 
homespun rather than wear English cloth. They gave 
up eating lamb that more wool might be grown for 
clothing. This was but one of several ways in which 
they showed their independence of England. 

Soon the English merchants began to complain. 
Their trade with America had nearly ceased. They 
cried out for the repeal of the Stamp Act. With oppo- 
sition on both sides of the sea, the ministers paused to 
consider, and while considering, they called Franklin to 
their deliberations. 

"That examination perhaps displayed his ability 



THE ''GRAND OLD MAN" OF AMERICA 



33 



to better advantage than any other single act in his 
life." He had thorough knowledge of the matter under 
discussion ; his temper was under perfect control ; 
his wit was keen ; and his replies were strong and illu- 
minating. His countrymen were right in thinking that 
his influence had done much towards the repeal of the 
Stamp Act. 

Dr. Franklin had gone to England expecting to 
remain ten months. Instead, he was gone ten years. 
He was always loyal to the American people. By 
his full and clear explanations of their views he pre- 
sented their cause in a favorable light to those whose 
minds were unprejudiced. 

In March, 1775, he sailed for the American shore. 
On the very day he landed he was elected a member of 
Congress. He guided the delegates with his wisdom 
and cheered them with his humor through all the 
trying days and months that followed. He was on the 
committee to draft the Declaration of Independence. 
He was also one of the signers. 

Benjamin Franklin was now seventy years old. 
This is an age at which most men give up active life 
to rest in the quiet of home. Not so with Franklin. In 
the fall of 1776 he sailed for France on a most impor- 
tant mission. His task was the making of an alliance 
with France against her old foe, England. 

He spent nine years in France and was wonderfully 
successful. France became our ally and furnished us 

COE M. — 3 



34 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



with money, troops, and a fleet. The aid from France 
turned the scales against England, and secured Ameri- 
can independence. 

Franklin was most popular with the French people. 
His genial nature, his delightful conversation, his wit 




"Franklin was most popular with the French people." 

and wisdom, won the hearts of all. The greatest men 
trusted his judgment in the weightiest matters, because 
they knew him to be just and fair-minded. This was 
especially the case when the treaty of peace was made 
that ended our war. 

Again and again Franklin asked permission to return 
home, for he was now an old man nearing eighty years. 



THE "GRAND OLD MAN" OF AMERICA 35 

He was recalled at last, and Thomas Jefferson was sent 
as minister to France. 

^'Have you come to replace Dr. Franklin?'' was 
asked of Jefferson. 

"No one can replace him, sir; I am only his suc- 
cessor." 

On September 12, 1785, Frankhn's ship reached 
Delaware Bay. The next morning the aged statesman 
found himself "in full view of dear Philadelphia." 

He was welcomed into the city with great rejoicing. 
Church bells were rung ; cannons were fired ; crowds 
met him at the wharf and escorted him to his home. 
His health had been benefited by the voyage, and he 
was rejoiced to discover that, even at seventy-nine, he 
" was by no means yet a worn-out man." 

This was well, for even then the people would not 
let him rest. They sent him to the convention that 
drew up the Constitution. The Constitution is the 
document that contains the laws by which our country 
is ruled to-day. 

"Franklin is the only man who wrote his name alike 
at the foot of the Declaration of Independence, of the 
Treaty of Alliance, of the Treaty of Peace, and at the 
foot of the Constitution." 

He died April 17, 1790, and America, France, and 
England mourned him deeply. His life was one of 
singular completeness. He has been well called "the 
many-sided Franklin," for he was alike a patriot, a 



36 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 



statesman and diplomat, a shrewd business man, an 
author, and a man of science. "Of sound sense no 
man ever had more." His great aim was to do good 
to his fellow men. This aim he certainly accom- 
plished, for his was a life of ''magnificent usefulness." 




Franklin's grave. 



PAUL REVERE, THE MESSENGER OF THE 
REVOLUTION 

Every boy and girl delights in Longfellow's poem, 
Paul Revere' s Ride. If you have read it, you know al- 
ready much of the story I am to tell. If you have not 
read it, do so at your earliest opportunity. The poem is 
alive. You yourself seem to ride the fleet steed and to 
live through the 
thrilling night 
with Paul 
Revere. 

Paul Revere 
was a plain man 
of the people. 
He was of the 
sort whom 
Adams advised 
with ; he un- 
doubtedly had shouted ''Both regiments or none!" and 
we know certainly that he took an active part in the 
famous ''Tea Party." He had not education sufficient 
to make him a leader like Adams, Warren, or Otis, but 
he was a faithful follower of these greater men. 

At this time there were no telephones, telegraphs, 
postal system, or railroads. If one colony wished to 

37 




Boston and vicinity. 



38 PAUL REVERE 

send an important message to another colony, a man 
on horseback must carry it. Such a messenger must 
be loyal and discreet. He must also be a swift horse- 
man. Paul Revere was chosen for such errands again 
and again. 

In the spring of 1775, a crisis had come in Massachu- 
setts. The colony was now guided by the Provincial 
Congress, a body of patriots with John Hancock for 
president. This body had counseled preparations for 
war. Stores of powder, cannons, firearms, and food 
materials were being secretly collected in various towns. 

Patriots v/ere being drilled, and a large body of men 
were pledged to be ready to light at a minute's notice. 
These were known as minutemen. 

Samuel Adams had advised that the British redcoats 
should be resisted if they moved more than ten miles 
inland. The people were determined to be ready. 

Governor Hutchinson had been succeeded by Gov- 
ernor Gage. The mother country was urging Gage to 
act. He had learned that Adams and Hancock were 
at Lexington, while but a few miles away, at Concord, 
was a large collection of military stores. By prompt 
action a strong detachment of soldiers could seize the 
two rebel leaders, march to Concord, destroy the 
stores, and then return to Boston. It was a pretty 
little program requiring but a day. 

The very day had already been chosen by Gage, 
but that fact was kept secret. Some preparations. 



THE MESSENGER OF THE REVOLUTION 



39 



however, must be made. Boats were launched, and 
the position of the troops was altered. This was 
enough for the keen eyes of the patriots. 

Thus it happened that on Sunday, the sixteenth 
of April, three days before the actual march of the 




The old North Bridge, Concord. 






British, Paul Revere was sent to Lexington and Con- 
cord with the word that unmistakable signs pointed to 
a British movement. In consequence, the great bulk 
of the stores at Concord were at once removed to other 
towns. 

There were two ways by which the British could leave 
Boston. One was by the long march around Roxbury 



40 



PAUL REVERE 



Neck ; the other was by crossing the Charles River to 
Cambridge by boats. Revere arranged with friends in 
Boston to have Kghts displayed in the belfry tower of the 
North Church in that city, so that those in 
neighboring towns could spread the alarm. One 
lantern was to signal '^ihey have gone by 
land" ; two lanterns, " they have gone by sea." 

The fatal evening of Tuesday came. It 
was after ten o'clock. Paul Revere now 
pushed off in his rowboat and silently 
crossed the river. The British man-of-w^ar 
Somerset was swinging at her moorings, a 
fair picture in the light of the rising moon. 
Behind him, two lanterns were gleaming in 
the tower of the Old North Church. 

Once on shore he sprang upon his horse 
and set off on a brisk canter towards 
Charlestown Neck. Two British 
officers tried to stop him, but he 
eluded them and turned into the 
Medford Road. 

It was a bright moonlight night. 
Plowed fields, forests, and meadows flowed swiftly past 
his horse's feet in the rapid flight. Now and then 
Revere roused a village or knocked at an isolated 
farmhouse to give his message of dread, ^^The red- 
coats are out !" The poet Longfellow thus describes 
the ride of Revere : 




The Old North Church, 
Boston. 



THE MESSENGER OF THE REVOLUTION 41 

*' A hurry of hoofs in a village street, 
A shape in the moonhght, a bulk in the dark, 
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark 
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet : 
That was all ! And yet, through the gloom and the Hght, 
The fate of a nation was riding that night ; 
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight, 
Kindled the land into flame with its heat." 

Lexington at last and Parson Clark's house ! 
Within, Adams and Hancock were sleeping, while a 
sentry paced to and fro before the door. Revere 
shouted as he galloped up. 

"Don't make such a noise !" cried the sentry. 

"Noise! you'll soon have noise enough! The 
regulars are coming !" replied Revere. 

Soon the little village of Lexington was all astir. 
Lights were glowing in the houses and muskets were 
being taken down from chimney pieces and their 
priming looked to. The spark had indeed "kindled 
the land into flame with its heat." 

At half past four, as the sun was rising, six companies 
of redcoats entered the little village of Lexington. 
To meet them on the green were about fifty or sixty 
minutemen, under the command of Colonel Parker, 
who had seen service in the late French war. 

Parker knew the importance of letting the British 
begin the attack. Congress would be with Massa- 
chusetts provided she did not fire the first shot. So 
his last commands were these: "Stand your ground ! 



42 



PAUL REVERE 




Paul Revere giving the alarm. 



Don't fire unless fired upon; but if they mean to have 
a war, let it begin here !" 

Major Pitcairn commanded the redcoats. Riding 
forward, he waved his pistol and ordered the farmers 
to disperse. "Disperse, disperse, ye villains! Lay 
down your arms, and disperse!" The minutemen 
stood firm. Pitcairn's anger rose, and he ordered his 



THE MESSENGER OF THE RE\'OLUTION 



43 



men to fire. When they hesitated, he discharged his 
own pistol and repeated his orders furiously. Then 
itideed, the British grenadiers opened fire. Eight 
Americans fell dead and ten were wounded. 

The Americans returned the fire, but the odds were 
against them as to numbers, and they soon retreated. 
Then the British continued their march to Concord. 

There, on Lexington green, lay the dead, staining the 
fresh new grass with their blood. The fair sunshine 
of this April morning shone on the white still faces of 
the first slain of the American Revolution. 

Only a handful of men and but an obscure skirmish ? 
Ah, no ! " It said to all the world that a people intended 
to govern themselves, and would die sooner than yield." 

The day, however, was not turning out a success to 
the British. They had missed the leaders, Adams and 
Hancock, and now at Concord there seemed to be very 
little to destroy in the way of stores. They spiked a 
few guns, broke open a few barrels of flour, cut down 
the liberty pole, and set the courthouse on fire. 

At the North Bridge, a detachment of the British 
met the minutemen who had assembled to guard the 
to\^^l. As the two parties met, the British fired, and 
two or three Americans fell. Alajor Buttrick, the 
American commander, sprang forward, shouting : 
''Fire, fellow soldiers ! Fire !" 

The minutemen responded in a businesslike fashion 
that dropped several of the British and soon caused 




44 



THE MESSENGER OF THE REVOLUTION 45 

them to retreat. Here, on the old North Bridge, where 
French's noble statue of the minuteman stands to-day, 
was fired ^'the shot heard round the world.'' 

And now began the return to Boston which soon 
became a retreat. From all the neighboring towns 
and from towns that were far away, the militia came 
pouring towards Concord. These men might not be 
trained to stand their ground in a pitched battle, but 
they were adepts in frontier warfare. So from hedge- 
rows, clumps of trees, and stone walls along the road- 
side came shots, picking off officers and men in a most 
disconcerting manner. 

The day was exceedingly warm; the lines of red- 
coats were thinning fast ; so great was the terror of the 
British that they almost ran the last mile to Lexington. 
There, however, they were saved. Lord Percy had 
arrived from Boston with about twelve hundred men. 

Percy formed his soldiers into a hollow square. Into 
this shelter the exhausted troops flung themselves, 
lying down on the ground with ^' their tongues hanging 
out of their mouths like those of dogs after a chase." 

A rest of a brief period somewhat restored the weary 
troops. Then the column set out for Boston. All 
the way the attack grew hotter and hotter. Now and 
then the soldiers would wheel and form, turn their can- 
nons upon the unseen enemy at their flank, and silence 
him for a few moments. But when they resumed their 
line of march, the same enfuriating fire began again. 



46 



PAUL REVERE 



Their double-quick march at last degenerated into a 
run. Only when they reached the shelter of their guns 
upon the war vessels in the Charles did they dare 




'From along the roadside came shots." 



to count themselves safe. On this eventful day the 
British lost 273 men and the Americans, 93. 

As for the patriots, their numbers were so increased 
by troops from Connecticut and Rhode Island that by 
Saturday night the British were surrounded in Boston ^ 
by a rebel army, 16,000 strong. War had begun in 
earnest. The Revolution was at last under way. 



ETHAN ALLEN, THE ROBIN HOOD 
OF VERMONT 

The battles of Lexington and Concord began the 
war of the American Revolution. The next military 
event of importance was the attack on Fort Ticon- 
deroga. 

In warfare, success usually comes to the party that 
seizes and holds the points of strategy. The points 
of strategy are mountains, hills, and waterways. 
If you hold the mountains and hills, you can turn your 
cannons upon any city, fort, or army that lies below 
you. If you hold the waterways, you can prevent 
the movements of your enemies and cut off their 
supplies. 

The most important waterway in the country was 
that formed by the Hudson River, Lake George, and 
Lake Champlain. If the British could hold this 
strategic line, they could separate New England from 
the other colonies and thus stop all united action. 
As in the old fable of the bunch of rods, each part 
could be easily broken as soon as the knot was untied. 

The Americans knew this fact as well as the English. 
To be successful they must forestall the enemy. At 
the southern end of Lake Champlain stood the strong 

47 



48 



ETHAN ALLEN 



fortress of Ticonderoga. This was held by the British. 
Less than three weeks after the fight at Lexington, 
a small force of Americans under Ethan Allen was 
marching to take Ticonderoga. 

Who was Ethan Allen, and how did it come to pass 
that such an important service was intrusted to him ? 
Ethan Allen was born in Connecticut, but at the age 
of twenty-nine, he left the state to settle in the 
New Hampshire Grants. By the 
New Hampshire Grants we mean 
much of what the state of Ver- 
mont includes to-day. Because of 
trouble over land claims, the men of 
the New Hampshire Grants formed 
themselves into a small army with 
Allen for leader. Colonel Allen he 
was called, and his rural regiments 
were known as the "Green Moun- 
tain Boys." Their purpose was to 
keep possession of their farms and 
to drive out new settlers w^hose 
claims they did not consider good. 
Many interesting stories could be 
told of Ethan Allen, the Robin Hood 
of the Green Mountains. But we are especially con- 
cerned with his share in the Revolutionary War. 

After actual fighting had begun in April, 1775, the 
colony of Connecticut had a brilliant plan. They 







Ethan Allen. 



THE ROBIN HOOD OF VERMONT 49 

saw that Ticonderoga must be captured, and decided 
that Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys were 
the men for the deed. Orders were sent to Allen, and 
early in May he gathered his men and set out on that 
march. 

Curiously enough, Massachusetts had also planned 
to send a force against the same fort. Dr. Joseph 
Warren had given Benedict Arnold a colonel's com- 
mission and power to raise four hundred men in the 
Berkshire Hills. Arnold was a brave and able soldier, 
but a proud and tactless man. We shall hear of him 
often, for he is a notable and tragic actor in our Revo- 
lution. 

He set out on his recruiting expedition in western 
New England. Then he heard of Allen's undertaking. 
He hastened north and overtook the little band a few 
miles from the fort. 

With striking audacity Arnold declared himself the 
proper leader. He claimed that he outranked Allen 
as an officer and had been ordered by Massachusetts 
to take Ticonderoga. 

Allen had no need to resist Arnold's claim, for his 
Green Mountain Boys spoke in no uncertain tones. 
They had volunteered to serve under Allen and no 
other leader. What did they care for Massachusetts 
or Arnold, too, for that matter ? They would 
straightway go home unless they might follow their 
trusted leader, Allen. 

COE M. — 4 



50 



ETHAN ALLEN 



Arnold, thereupon, joined the party as a ^^olunteer, 
since he could go in no other capacity. On the eve- 
ning of May gth they reached the shore of the lake. 

Here, boats were necessary. Some had been col- 
lected, but there were not enough to take all the party 
at once. Eighty-three men crossed the first time, and 
then the boats were sent back for others. 

.\llen knew that their one chance of success was to 
have the attack a perfect surprise. The garrison was 
not more than fifty in number, but behind those 
massive walls they could easily defy a much larger 
force. 

With his eyes on the east he waited. Lo ! the first 
faint flush of gold ! He must not wait for the boats 
to return. 

"Let every man who is willing to go with me, poise 
his firelock !" he cried. Every gun was poised. 

Then Allen, with Arnold at his side, sprang up the 
bulwarks and made for the sally port. The amazed 
sentry snapped his fusil and fled for safety into the 
barracks. The Americans rushed after, forming on 
the parade ground and giving three loud huzzas. 

Ethan Allen ran up the stairway to the room of 
Colonel Delaplace, the commander. There he thun- 
dered on the door and called upon Delaplace to sur- 
render. The bewildered oflicer opened the door. 
"By whose authority do you bid me to surrender?" 
he asked. And then came Allen's noble reply: 




In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress ! 

SI 



52 



ETHAN ALLEN 



woodsman and his followers. 
|m already theirs; he gave up his 



"In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Con- 
tinental Congress !" 

Delaplace knew little of Congress, but he saw that 
his men and his fort were entirely at the mercy 

of this stalwart 
The fort was 

^^^^ with it two hundred cannon 

and large stores of 
ammunition and 
military supplies. 
These were of un- 
told value later in 
the war. 

Thus Ticonder- 
oga was taken 
without a blow. 
''The fort that 
had cost England 
several campaigns, 
many lives, and 
some millions of 
the Americans in ten 




Carpenters' Hall, the meeting place of the first 
Continental Congress. 



pounds fell into the hands of 
minutes." 



WASHINGTON SETS BOSTON FREE 

The same day that saw the fall of Ticonderoga 
witnessed the gathering of the second Continental 
Congress. Grave responsibilities faced this Congress. 
The country looked to it as the chief governing body. 
Massachusetts urged it to adopt an army and to 
choose a commander in chief. 

To borrow a title from Bunyan, the Continental 
Congress might have been called "Mr. Facing-Both- 
Ways." There were many different opinions. A 
great number still hoped, by conciliating petitions, to 
patch up a peace with the mother country. Others 
knew that they had put their hands to the plow of 
revolution and that there must be no going back. The 
two Adamses were of this opinion and also George 
Washington. 

Washington was at this time forty-three. His 
judgment was much respected by the members of the 
Congress. He was an authority on military matters 
and was consulted on other affairs as well. Day by 
day Washington appeared at the sessions of Congress 
in his blue and buff colonel's uniform. It was a silent 
witness to his belief that war was inevitable. 

On the fifteenth of June, 1775, John Adams moved 

S3 



54 GEORGE WASHINGTON 

that Congress adopt the army at Boston and place over 
it, as commander in chief, their distinguished col- 
league from Virginia. "He," said Adams, "could 
unite the cordial exertions of the colonies better than 
any other." 

Washington was disturbed and agitated at the 
proposal. He promptly left the room that greater 
freedom for discussion might be secured. Some 
persons thought that, since New England men made 
up the army, they might prefer to be led by a man from 
their own part of the country. 

But the New England representatives in Congress 
were stoutly against this idea. They saw that the 
war must be felt from the start to be the concern of 
all. Greater union would be secured should a Vir- 
ginian lead troops from Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. 

The selection of Washington as commander in chief 
was the most important step taken in the whole course 
of the war. "Nothing can be clearer than that in 
any other hands than those of George Washington 
the war would have ended disastrously to the Amer- 
icans." Lodge says, "It was a noble choice, one worth 
remembering, for they took the absolutely greatest 
and fittest man in America, a feat which is seldom 
performed." 

Washington gave Congress his reply the next day. 
He accepted the great trust with these earnest words: 



BOSTON SET FREE 55 

"Since the Congress desire, I will enter upon the 
momentous duty and exert every power I possess in 
their service and for the support of the glorious cause. 
But I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman 
in the room, that I this day declare, with the utmost 
sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command 
I am honored with." 

And now Washington set off from Philadelphia to 
ride to Boston. He was accompanied by two major 
generals and other officers on horseback. Twenty 
miles out from Philadelphia they met messengers 
bearing the news of the battle of Bunker Hill. Wash- 
ington had but one eager question, ''Did the militia 
fight?" When told how well they had behaved, he 
replied : "The liberties of -the country are safe." 

Woodrow Wilson paints a noble picture for us in 
these words: "It was an object lesson in the char- 
acter of the revolution to see Washington ride through 
the colonies to take charge of an insurgent army. 
And no man or woman, or child even, was likely to 
miss the lesson. That noble figure drew all eyes to 
it ; that mien, as if the man was a prince ; that serene 
and open countenance, which every man could see 
was lighted by a good conscience ; that cordial ease 
in salute, as of a man who felt himself brother to his 
friends. There was something about Washington that 
quickened the pulses of a crowd at the same time 
that it awed them, that drew cheers which were a 



56 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 



sort of voice of worship. Children desired sight of 
him, and men felt lifted after he had passed." 

Washington's journey of eleven days ended at 
Cambridge. Here were the headquarters of the 
army that was besieging Boston. 



\ ': ^ 


^1^ 




J^l'' '^jHb 


IP' "' n '* 


hI 



Washington takes command of the Continental Army. 

On July 3d, 1775, this rustic army was drawn up 
on parade. It was a very warm day, and Washington 
and the other officers were glad to take shelter under an 
elm that grew near Cambridge common. Here Gen- 
eral George Washington drew his sword and took 
command of the Continental Army. 

The shrewd New England troops looked into his 



BOSTON SET FREE 57 

eyes and believed in him from the start. They knew 
they had a leader in a thousand. But their appear- 
ance filled Washington with dismay, which only grew 
deeper as he came to realize how unorganized and 
poorly equipped they were. 

The discipline was lax. A visitor at camp heard 
this conversation. The speakers were a captain and 
one of his men. 

''Bill," said the captain, ''go and bring a pail of 
water for the men." 

"I shan't," said Bill. "It's your turn now, cap- 
tain; I got it last time." 

The men had no uniforms. Washington asked 
Congress to provide ten thousand hunting shirts. 
He thought that to clothe the soldiers alike would be 
a step towards making them act alike. 

Washington's greatest anxieties were two in number. 
One was the short term for which the troops had 
enlisted ; the other was the scarcity of powder. 

There were some sixteen thousand men furnished 
by the four New England colonies. These men, 
however, were constantly changing. As soon as 
Washington would see certain troops improving in 
discipline and military maneuvers — presto, change ! 
they would be off to their farms, and he would be 
forced to begin all over again with fresh recruits. 

As for the powder, — never was a siege maintained 
with less I At one time each man had but half a 



58 GEORGE WASHINGTON 

pound. When that fact was told Washington, he was 
silent half an hour in dismay. The barrels in the 
magazines that should have held powder were filled 
with sand. Then a little powder was sprinkled on 
top. This was to deceive any British spy who might 
be seeking information. 

Congress kept urging Washington to act, and he 
himself longed to attack. But he was too prudent to 
move against the British before there was a chance 
of success. Month after month of drilling improved 
his men, while powder was being gathered from near 
and far. 

By the end of February the siege guns arrived. 
They had been dragged all the way from Ticonderoga 
over the frozen roads of Massachusetts in the bitter 
winter season. With their aid Washington could 
carry out what he had planned so long. 

On the evening of March 4th, 1776, there was 
little sleep for General Howe. The American cannon 
were in action all night. From Somerville, Roxbury, 
and East Cambridge came the heavy boom ! boom ! 
The guns were drowning noises that would have 
seemed suspicious to the British. Under cover of 
their thunder, the Americans were stealing a march 
upon the foe. 

Over two thousand American troops were on their 
way to fortify Dorchester Heights. These were hills 
commanding Boston on the south, as Bunker Hill 



BOSTON SET FREE 



59 



did on the north. First went 800 men with wagons 
loaded with spades, crowbars, hatchets, hammers, and 




Throwing up intrenchments on Dorchester Heights. 

nails. Then followed 1200 men with 300 oxcarts, 
carrying heavy timber and great bales of hay. Last 
of all came the precious siege guns. 

How the men worked that night ! Intrenchments 
were thrown up and the guns mounted in place. Wash- 
ington rode up and down the lines all night, encourag- 
ing the men. Their grit and industry gave him much 
silent satisfaction- 

In the morning, the British were thunderstruck at 
seeing the familiar hilltop crowned with frowning guns 
and active troops. ^'It is like the work of the genii 



6o GEORGE WASHINGTON 

of Aladdin's wonderful lamp," cried one of the aston- 
ished officers. 

The Americans had gained one of those strategic 
points we have already spoken of. There were several 
British ships in the harbor. The commander sent 
word to Howe that, unless the Americans were imme- 
diately driven from the heights, he would have to 
leave Boston harbor. 

Howe remembered the courage at Bunker Hill and 
quailed at the thought of the bloody attack before his 
men. He hesitated, but finally ordered Lord Percy 
to take 3000 men and move against Dorchester Heights. 

Just as Percy was starting, a fearful storm arose. The 
troops could not cross the bay and so were forced to 
wait till morning. The next day the storm continued. 

Meanwhile the Americans were strengthening their 
earthworks with might and main. By the third day, 
when the British might have attacked, it was seen 
that the American position was too strong. There 
was nothing to do but to quit the town. Washington 
had won in the waiting game with Howe. 

On March 17th, 1776, General Howe and an army of 
8000 troops went aboard the fleet. From Boston 
they sailed away to Halifax, Nova Scotia. They 
left behind 200 cannon, a great number of muskets, 
and ten times as much powder and shot as Washing- 
ton's army had ever seen. These articles of war were 
just what the Americans needed. 



BOSTON SET FREE 6i 

Thus, by one blow, New England was freed forever 
from the enemy. Henceforward the middle and 
southern colonies feared and hated the redcoats, 
and were harried from coast to center by the stern 
chances of war. But New England stood by her 
sisters nobly and poured out troops and money for 
the cause so dear to all. 




Drum used at Bunker 
HiU. 



THE DECLAR.\TIOX OF IXDEPEXDEXCE 

The body of grave and earnest men meeting at 
Philadelphia and kno^^Ti as the Continental Congress 
did two superlatively ^^dse deeds. In 1775, they 
chose George Washington to be commander in chief 
of the American army. In 1776, they declared the 
thirteen colonies to be independent of the mother 
countr}'. Let us see how this last great step came to 
be taken. 

Even after Lexington and Bunker HiU a large num- 
ber of the American people never thought of separa- 
tion from England. They were fighting for their 
rights ; soon England would see that they were in 
earnest and would grant them their just demands. 
Thus they reasoned. But as time Avent on and Eng- 
land followed one act of bitter enmity A\^th another, 
the people began to see that the king and his party 
were determined to carry out their measures, even at 
the point of the sword. 

Three acts opened the eyes of the American people 
and forced them to recognize the English as their 
real foes. In the first place George III now refused 
to read any petitions from America ; in the second 
place armies and fleets were gathered and sent against 

62 



JULY 4, 1776 



63 



the Americans ; and lastly, as if there were not enough 
English soldiers to wage war against the colonies, 
George III began to hire troops in Germany. Twenty 
thousand were obtained from that country, especially 
from Hesse. 

This was the last straw for the Americans. Such 
a cold-blooded act they could never forgive, and 
their hearts hardened within them. 

In the spring of 1776, the colonies began to send word 
to their delegates at Phila- 
delphia, saying that they 
were ready for independ- 
ence. The colony of North 
Carolina led the way. 
From New England and 
from the south came simi- 
lar messages to Congress, 
till at last action could no 
longer be postponed. 

On June 7, 1776, Richard 
Henry Lee of Virginia 
offered three resolutions to Congress. The first one 
was for independence and read: 

"Resolved, that these united colonies are, and of 
right ought to be, free and independent states." 

Massachusetts and Virginia were warm allies. The 
motion of Lee was promptly seconded by John Adams 
of Massachusetts. Then followed an exciting debate. 




George III. 



64 THE DECLARATION OF IXDEPENDENCE 

Within the walls of the sedate Philadelphia hall there 
were all the varpng shades of sentiment as in the 
country outside. These leaders were able, honorable, 
and patriotic, but there might well be different opinions 
as to what was best for the country. WTiile all might 
agree in condemning the unjust acts of England, it 
might easily be thought that to declare the country 




Lee's three resolutions. 

independent was premature and reckless to the last 
degree. And so the matter was argued until it was 
seen that the north and the south were for independ- 
ence and the great middle colonies were for postponing 
the important step. 

It was finally decided that it would be mse to delay. 
The whole question was postponed for three weeks. 
This would give certain colonies that had not yet 
instructed their delegates time to do so. That no 
time should be lost, a committee was chosen to prepare 
a paper, stating the causes which had led the colonies 
to declare their freedom. 



JULY 4, 1776 65 

The committee was most wisely chosen. The five 
members were Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, John 
Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin FrankHn of Penn- 
sylvania, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, and Robert 
R. Livingston of New York. The committee talked 
over what should appear in the document they were 
to prepare, and then voted that the writing should be 
done by Thomas Jefferson. Here again they showed 
their wisdom, for Jefferson was the absolutely fit 
man for the task. He was only thirty-three at the 
time, but he had thought profoundly upon the poli- 
tics of his day. He was thoroughly in sympathy 
with his age, and he had unbounded faith in the com- 
mon sense and right purpose of the American people. 
Hence he came to write a state paper "the sublimest 
ever produced by man." In dignity, clearness, and 
force it is unsurpassed. Generation after generation 
has Hstened to it with loving respect. It endures 
like the solid rock. 

The young Virginian read his work to Franklin and 
to Adams. A few changes in words were made, and 
then the committee were ready to report to Congress. 

The three weeks had sped swiftly away. On July 
I St, Congress was ready to consider Lee's resolutions. 
As Lee was absent from Congress, the right of defend- 
ing the resolutions fell to John Adams. His speech 
was wonderful ; it thrilled all present. An informal 
vote was taken, and the colonies stood nine to three in 

COE M. — t; 



66 



THE DECLARATION OF IXDEPEXDENCE 




Signing the Declaration of Independence. 



favor of independence. New York could not vote, 
as she had not received instructions. 

On July 2d, the formal vote was taken, when it was 
found that twelve colonies voted for independence. 
South Carolina had opposed the resolution, but she 
generously changed her vote for the sake of harmony. 

The next step was to consider the document that 
had been written by Jefferson. Two days were 
spent in considering this paper, line by line. The 
step was final, — it might be fatal, and all knew it. 
During the debate, word was received of the arrival 
of a large British fleet off Sandy Hook. Another 



JULY 4, 1776 



67 



fleet was known to be in Carolina waters. But there 
was no wavering, no turning back from the furrow 
to be plowed. Calm was the debate and deliberate the 
action as, on the evening of July 4th, 1776, twelve 
states voted for the Declaration of Independence. 
The paper was approved by the president and the 
secretary. The signa- 
tures were to be added 
later. 

All the afternoon 
there had been great 
excitement outside In- 
dependence Hall, if not 
inside. It was known 
that Congress would 
probably settle the tre- 
mendous question that 
very day, and the 
people were eager to 
hear. In dense crowds 
they gathered about the stately colonial building. 

In the steeple waited the old bellman. The bell 
of Independence Hall had been brought from London 
nearly twenty-five years before. On its side were 
engraved these appropriate words : ''Proclaim Liberty 
throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof." 

It had been decided that, if the great step were 
taken, the good news should be proclaimed by the 




Independence bell. 



68 THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 

ringing of this bell. A small boy stationed by the door 
was to give the signal to the bellman. When the 
doorkeeper told him the great paper had been ac- 
cepted, he ran out and shouted, "Ring ! ring ! ring !" 

And the old bell, henceforth to be known as 
Independence bell, rang as never before. It said to 
all the world: ''A people has risen up in the West. 
They are weary of kings; they can rule themselves. 
They will tear down the old landmarks; they will 
let loose a new force upon the world ; and with the 
wilderness and the savage at their back they will even 
do battle for the faith that is in them." 

Philadelphia was not the only city that rejoiced. 
Throughout all the colonies bells were rung, bonfires 
blazed, and cannons were fired. This was the first 
Fourth of July. 

On July 9th, New York formally adopted the 
Declaration of Independence. In August the dele- 
gates signed the great state paper. 

It was a very serious matter to sign this paper. 
Hancock said, ''There must be no pulling different 
ways ; we must all hang together." 

''Yes," rejoined Dr. Franklin, "we must indeed, 
or we shall all hang separately." 

Although all laughed, they knew the words were 
true. Should the revolution fail, the names upon 
the declaration would make up the hangman's list. 
Hancock, Adams, Franklin, and the rest would be 



JULY 4, 1776 69 

hunted down as traitors, and a price would be set 
upon their heads. As much courage was there in 
that quiet hall as ever was shown on the bloodiest 
battlefield. All honor to the fathers of our nation 
for their heroic thinking and acting, when they set 
their names to the immortal paper that made our 
country free. 




Jefferson's desk, on which he wrote the 
Declaration of Independence. 




Statue of Nathan Hale, New York City. 
70 



THE SERVICE OF NATHAN HALE 

'* Every kind of service necessary for the public good be- 
comes honorable by being necessary." — Nathan Hale. 

Notwithstanding the shortness of Nathan Hale's 
life, he left a name that shines with a luster as fair as 
if he had served his country greatly through four times 
twenty-one years. This is because of the noble sacri- 
fice he made for the patriot cause. 

Nathan Hale was born on June 6th, 1755, ^^ Coven- 
try, Connecticut. He was a delicate boy, but his 
mother and grandmother watched over him so tenderly 
that he grew into a robust child. He loved out- 
door life, and by running, leaping, and other such 
sports he became a strong, athletic lad. 

Nathan was admitted to Yale College, where he was 
an earnest student. He delighted his classmates by 
his success in athletics, for he broke the college record 
for jumping. Even now his record is treasured in 
the old elm-shaded university. Hale's sweet temper 
and unselfishness won for him many friends. What- 
ever he undertook to do he did joyfully with all his 
might. His favorite motto was "A man ought never 
to lose a minute." 

71 



72 NATHAN H.\LE 

In September, 1773, Nathan Hale was graduated 
from Yale College with the highest honors. He 
taught school in Connecticut for the next year and a 
half. But when the stirring news of the battles of 
Lexington and Concord reached him, Hale could not 
remain at his desk. He was marching to Boston the 
following day with two Connecticut regiments. He 
took part in the siege of Boston and was made a cap- 
tain in January, 1776. 

After the British troops were driven from Boston 
by Washington's clever maneuvers, New York became 
the scene of war. The opponents were very unevenly 
matched. The British numbered 25,000 well-equipped 
troops, with a large number of cannon, generous stores 
of ammunition, and even ships at their command. The 
Americans numbered but 14,000 poorly equipped and 
ill-fed men. Worst of all, the Americans were much 
discouraged, for they realized the great odds against 
them. They had just lost the battle of Long Island, 
and the British had entered the city of New York. 

The military situation was now most serious. Wash- 
ington saw that he must have certain news of the 
enemy; he must know exactly the number of their 
troops and how they were posted in the defense of New 
York. He needed a spy, — one who would enter the 
lines of the British, learn all he could, and return with 
the information to the commander in chief. Then 
Washington would know the place and time to attack. 



THE SERVICE OF NATHAN H.\LE 73 

But the service of spy is most dangerous. With the 
alert eyes and ears of hundreds of enemies about him, 
he rarely escapes detection. If discovered, he is not 
shot but hanged. A soldier considers hanging dis- 
graceful, while death by a bullet is honorable. 

Washington requested Lieutenant Colonel Knowl- 
ton to call together the officers and ask for a volun- 
teer for this distasteful business. The men were 
summoned, and Knowlton spoke. All looked at each 
other with troubled countenances. Some were an- 
gered to think that such a dark and dangerous mission 
had been suggested to them. No one offered to go. 

At this tense moment Captain Nathan Hale entered 
the room. Knowlton explained the purpose of the 
gathering to him, and immediately Hale said, ''I will 
go." Now Hale was a favorite with his brother offi- 
cers, and they promptly began to dissuade him from his 
purpose. But he replied, ''If I do not go, who will?" 
and they fell silent. 

Hale was to enter the British lines as a schoolmaster 
who was disgusted with the American cause. He laid 
aside his American uniform and dressed himself in a 
plain brown suit, with a broad-brimmed, round hat. 
He carried his diploma, to serve as a kind of passport. 

To enter the British lines presented difficulties, but 
he walked some fifty miles, was carried across Long 
Island Sound in a sloop, spent the night at a farmer's 
house, and in time found himself in New York city. 



74 



NATHAN HALE 



For the next six days he v\^as busy indeed. He walked 
about from morning to night, taking mental notes of 
all that he saw. He talked and joked with sentries 
and officers, until his genial manners won their hearts, 
A and they grew confidential. Incredible was the 
amount of material garnered by Hale. His 
candle burned during many hours 
of the night as he toiled to record, 
with the utmost exactness, what 
he had learned through the day. 
At last there was nothing 
more to learn in the English 
camp. On September 21, 
Hale left New York city 
in the night, and to- 
wards daybreak reached 
the Cedars. Here he 
had arranged to have 
a friendly boat sent for 
him. It was too early 
for the boat, and so, grown bolder through success, he 
turned into the Tory tavern kept by Mother Chichester. 
Alas ! why did not his good angel warn him away ? 

In the tavern several redcoats sat at breakfast. 
These Hale joined, in his usual happy way, and a 
brisk conversation ensued. The young man did not 
notice that one guest studied him carefully for one 
long minute, and then slipped from the room. 




Hale toiled through the night. 



THE SERVICE OF NATHAN HALE 



75 



After a few moments "Mother Chichester," as the 
soldiers called her, entered the room. ''A strange boat 
is coming towards the shore," she said. Hale sprang 
up, for he was certain it was his boat. He hurried 
towards the sea, waving his hand in greeting. Sud- 
denly several muskets were pointed at him from the 
boat. '' Surrender or die ! " shouted the leader. The 
^boat was full of redcoats summoned by the man 
who had hurriedly left the tavern a short time before. 
He had recognized Hale and had guessed him to be a 
spy upon the British. 




Suddenly muskets were pointed at him." 



His captors rowed Hale to their ship, where Captain 
Quarme had him searched. The valuable papers 
were found in his shoes, below movable cork soles. 



76 NATHAN HALE 

With the papers spread before him Quarme saw his 
duty clearly. Hale was a spy who must be sent 
promptly to the British commander in chief. General 
Howe. 

General Howe questioned Hale, and the young man 
answered truthfully to his name, his position, and his 
business in the English camp. Howe was amazed 
at the truth of all Hale's estimates. It is said that 
he offered Hale an excellent rank in the British army 
if he would change sides. To this, of course, there 
was but one answer, — a proud and indignant refusal. 

'^Very well, then, you may die for your country," 
and without proper trial Hale was sentenced to be 
hanged before daybreak, and was handed over to 
Cunningham, the provost marshal. Cunningham was 
a brute who used all prisoners in his power with the 
utmost cruelty. He stole their money and their 
food. Much of the time he was the worse for drink. 

It was now night ; Hale had but a few hours left to 
him in this world. He asked for writing materials 
that he might say farewell to those dear to him. This 
request was rudely refused. He asked for a Bible, 
but this, too, Cunningham denied him. 

Later, a second officer, who had overheard Hale's 
request, brought him what he desired. Here was an- 
other midnight vigil under the British guns, and the 
last ! 

With letters of farewell and a last reading of the 



THE SERVICE OF NATHAN H.ALE 77 

word of God the night sped fast. In the early 
morning Hale was summoned to die. He handed the 
precious letters, the work of his last hours, to Cun- 
ningham, with the request that they be forwarded to 
his friends. The wretch tore them open, hoping to 
find weakness and repining. Every page breathed 
undying love and steadfast courage. In hot anger 
Cunningham tore them up before Hale's face. 

A little group gathered in the orchard, the place of 
execution. Bravely and unfalteringly the patriot, only 
twenty-one years old, marched to the spot and waited 
while the rope was adjusted about his neck. Would 
he not falter at the very last? ''You may make 
your last speech," said Cunningham, with the hope of 
his breaking down. 

With steadfast eyes looking far beyond the spec- 
tators, a few S}Tnpathizing, the rest agape. Hale said 
with a strong, clear voice, "I only regret that I have 
but one life to lose for my country." 

Such a spirit and such words are immortal. 



GENERAL NATHANAEL GREENE 

Roger Williams and Nathanael Greene have 
always been considered the two great heroes of the state 
of Rhode Island. Roger Williams was the first set- 
tler of the colony, while Nathanael Greene was the 
great general whom she sent to serve in the Revolu- 
tionary War. 

Nathanael Greene was born in Warmck, Rhode 
Island, in 1742. His father was a Quaker preacher 
who brought up his sons in a very narrow-minded 
way. He was a man of wealth for those days. He 
owned grist, flour, and corn mills, and a couple of 
forges, and could easily have sent to college any of his 
sons who wished to go. But the elder Greene thought 
it was enough for them to read, to write, and to cipher. 

This state of affairs was far from satisfying the boy 
Nathanael. To own and read books was his great 
ambition. He made tiny anchors and other iron 
toys and crossed to Newport to sell them. He found 
a ready market and soon hastened to a bookstore. 

"What do you want, young man?" said the pro- 
prietor. 

'^ A book." 

"What book?" 

78 



A HERO OF RHODE ISLAND 



79 



Poor Greene was silent. He really did not know 
what he needed, and was too shy to explain. How- 
ever, a keen and friendly eye was upon him. Rev, 
Ezra Stiles, later the president of Yale College, was 
in the store and under- 
stood the whole situa- Jfr 
tion. He invited the 
lad to his home, talked 
with him, and ad- 
vised him as to the 
best books to buy. 

Greene toiled to _ 
buy books and then 
he toiled to read them. 
By the hopper of the \ 
mill or the forge of the 
smithy, he often stood or 
sat with books in hand. His 
work was always so well done 
that his father could not com- 
plain; but as month after 
month, and year after year passed by, the lad grew into 
an educated young man, with a clear mental vision and 
sound judgment. 

At the age of twenty, Greene began to read law and to 
take a deep interest in politics. As the troubles with 
England grew more serious, he attended military 
parades and helped to organize the ''Kentish Guards." 




What book? 



So NATHANAEL GREENE 

When the starthng news of Lexington and Concord 
reached Rhode Island, Greene and three others 
galloped towards Boston to offer themselves as sol- 
diers. It is no wonder that Rhode Island made Greene 
commander of the troops that she sent to the Conti- 
nental army at Boston, and that he became a briga- 
dier general. 

Washington had but to see Greene to discover his 
able mind and his true, loyal soul. They were stanch 
friends from their first meeting at Cambridge, and year 
by year Greene's ability increased, until, at the end of 
the war, his military record was second only to that 
of Washington. 

Some day you will follow the fortunes of General 
Greene's career with keen interest as you read of 
Forts Washington and Lee, Brandv^dne, Germanto^\Tl, 
and the wonderful campaign in the south. In this 
little book we have space for but two battles, — 
Trenton and Guilford Court House. At Trenton, 
Greene fought \^dth Washington; at Guilford Court 
House, he was the commander in chief of the American 
army in the south. 

It was December, 1776. For six months disaster 
after disaster had fallen upon the American arms. 
The defeat of Long Island had been rapidly followed by 
the loss of New York and the fall of Forts Washington 
and Lee. Then had come the retreat through New 
Jersey with the English in hot pursuit. On December 



A HERO OF RHODE ISLAND 



8i 



8th the Americans crossed the Delaware at Trenton, 
putting the broad swift river between themselves and 
their enemies. The shores, both above and below 
Trenton over a distance of seventy miles, had been 
searched for boats, all of 
which had been removed 
to the Pennsylvania side. 
This made the Americans 
doubly secure from attack. 

Howe and Cornwallis 
decided that the campaign 
was well over for that year. 
The British troops were 
posted in several New 
Jersey towns, the line of 
the Delaware being held 
by 1 200 fine Hessian troops 
under Colonel Rahl at 
Trenton and 2000 under 
Count Donop at Borden- 
town. 

Washington had crossed the Delaware with but 
3000 troops. To so few had the Continental army 
shrunk at this time, which in New York had numbered 
14,000. Soon, however, reenforcements from the north 
joined Washington, so that his little army now con- 
sisted of 6000 men. This condition could not last. 
With the new year the terms of the men would expire, 

COE M. — 6 




82 NATHAN AEL GREENE 

and most of them would return to their homes. Who 
could blame them ? To friends and foes the American 
cause was a lost one. 

But ''all the Hon in Washington was aroused." 
He saw the confident security of the British ; he 
recognized the careless placing of their troops along the 
Delaware. Christmas would be kept by the Hes- 
sians with true German spirit. The feasting and 
good cheer of the holiday season would put them off 
their guard. Then surely was the time for attack. 

In consultation with Greene and other officers the 
able plan was laid. There were to be three cross- 
ings, — a detachment under Cadwalader was to cross 
near Bordentown ; a second, under General Ewing, at 
Trenton ; and a third, under Washington himself, 
nine miles north of Trenton. 

It was a bleak and bitter night. The river was 
dangerous with blocks of floating ice. Ewing did not 
attempt to cross. Cadwalader marched his men to 
the bank, but after gazing at the dangerous flood, he 
ordered them back to camp. Both men sent mes- 
sengers to Washington, telling of their failure to carry 
out his orders. The messengers traced Washington's 
little band by bloodstains in the snow. 

But Washington's resolve was fixed. Neither river, 
nor storm, nor faint-hearted allies could turn him 
back. He was going to fight. The boats were manned 
by Gloucester fishermen, who had need of all their 



A HERO OF RHODE ISLAND 



83 



skill to avoid the huge blocks of ice bearing down upon 
them at times most suddenly and swiftly. The 
crossing took over ten hours. Then followed the 
nine-mile march to Trenton. 




" The crossing took ten hours." 



One part of the army under General Sullivan fol- 
lowed the river road, while Washington accompanied 
Greene's troops along the inland road. Snow was fall- 
ing fast, and it was intensely cold. SuUivan sent word 
to Washington that the muskets of his men were wet and 
useless. Washington returned this inflexible message, 
^' Give them the bayonet, for the town must be taken !" 

In the gray dawn the Americans drove back the 
Hessian pickets and entered Trenton. ''From their 
comfortable slumbers and warm beds, with the mem- 



84 NATHANAEL GREENE 

ories of their Christmas feasting still upon them, 
these poor Germans were roused to meet a fierce assault 
from men ragged indeed, but desperate with all the 
courage of their race rising high in the darkest hour, 
and led by a great soldier who meant to fight." 

The struggle was brief. The guns of the Amer- 
icans swept the main streets. Some of the Hessians 
tried vainly to escape. Colonel Rahl, the commander, 
was mortally wounded, and soon surrendered one 
thousand men as prisoners of war to Washington. 

This unlooked-for success turned the tide. Hope 
arose again in American hearts. Men gladly reen- 
listed ; other successes followed ; the darkest hour 
of the Revolution was past. 

The deeds of Nathanael Greene and of Daniel Morgan 
are so closely linked during the later years of the 
Revolution that it seems best to consider, at this time, 
the life history of Daniel Morgan. Later, we can 
read the account of the battles of the Cow^ens and of 
Guilford Court House, where Greene and Morgan 
played into each other's hands so ably. 



DANIEL MORGAN 

'' Morgan was a man of gentle and unselfish nature; a genu- 
ine diamond, though a rough one ; uneducated, but clear and 
strong in intelligence, and faithful in every fiber." — John Fiske. 

The historian, John Fiske, has given us an admi- 
rable portrait of another of Washington's generals in 
the few telling words at the opening of this chapter. 
In his early years Daniel Morgan was indeed rough and 
uncouth. How could he be otherv/ise, owing to the 
hard conditions of his boyhood ? 

He was the son of a poor laborer ; he received very 
little schooling ; and at seventeen he left home. At 
first he hired out by the day, toiling to clear land in 
Virginia. Later he became a wagoner. 

Morgan accompanied the army of Braddock on its 
ill-fated expedition against Fort Duquesne. After 
the troops had been surprised and defeated by the 
Indians, a large number of the wagoners whipped up 
their horses and fled. But Daniel Morgan, as Fiske says, 
was '' faithful in every fiber." He waited to take up 
the wounded and carry them, in his wagon, to a place 
of safety. 

Perhaps the most important event to Morgan in 
the French and Indian War was his acquaintance with 



86 



DANIEL MORGAN 



Washington. He watched that fine, strong mind rul- 
ing itself and others in the midst of panic and disaster, 
and admired. Washington became his friend and ideal. 
At twenty-three Daniel Morgan was a giant. He was 
over six feet and four inches in height, and weighed 







"Morgan spurred away into the wilderness." 

nearly two hundred pounds. The muscles of his 
limbs were superb. He seemed to have an iron con- 
stitution, as the following incident will show. 

With an escort, Morgan was once carrying important 
dispatches from one fort to another. The men were 
mounted on horses and suddenly rode into a clever 



INDIAN FIGHTER 87 

Indian ambuscade. Then began a flying battle. A 
ball entered Morgan's neck at the back and passed 
out at the mouth. Faint with loss of blood, and be- 
lieving that the wound was mortal, he had but one aim, 
— to save his body from the Indian tomahawk. 
Throwing his arms tightly around the neck of his 
fleet steed, he spurred away into the wilderness. The 
Indians followed, but Morgan soon outstripped all 
but one. This one ran beside his horse, expecting him 
every moment to fall, but Morgan outrode the Indian. 
With a howl of rage, the redman flung his tomahawk 
after Morgan and gave up the chase. 

The good horse took his master back to the fort. 
Morgan was unconscious when he arrived, and it was 
fully six months before he was again a well man. 
Ninety-nine men out of a hundred would have died. 

When the Revolutionary War broke out, but one 
thing was possible to a man of Morgan's nature. 
Washington was his friend; he loved his country; 
honorable service and promotion would await him at 
the front. He raised ninety-six backwoodsmen in 
Virginia, put himself at their head, and marched 
600 miles in twenty days to join Washington in Boston. 

Morgan was in nearly every important battle during 
the war, but the two most notable were the battles of 
Saratoga and Cowpens. The account of these en- 
gagements, both turning points in the Revolution, 
may be found in the next two chapters. 



THE STORY OF SARATOGA 

For the year 1777, the British ministers made a most 
careful plan of campaign. They said: ''Let us capture 
the Hudson River and Lake Champlain. This will 
divide the colonies and break up the union. We 
will then conquer New England. Afterwards we 
can crush the remaining states, and the war will be 
over." 

The plan was an excellent one, but, owing to certain 
circumstances, the results were other than the British 
had expected. General Burgoyne was to lead an 
army of nearly ten thousand from Canada, over Lake 
Champlain, down the Hudson River as far as Albany. 
General Howe was to ascend the Hudson to Albany. 
When the two generals met, the deed would have been 
done, — the colonies would have been cut in two. 

Burgoyne received positive orders to march south- 
ward over the route outlined above. Howe was 
informed of the projected campaign and advised to 
join Burgoyne. But the letter containing the order 
to march northward through New York was drafted 
and never sent ! Thus Howe was left his own master, 
and he proceeded to carry out a side campaign of his 
own. He always had longed to take Philadelphia, 



THE TURNING POINT OF THE WAR 89 

the ''rebel capital," and this he attempted to do in 
the summer months of 1777. Washington, Greene, 
and all the able American generals knew that, once 
Burgoyne was on the march, the only right move for 
Howe was to the northward. So they were much 
puzzled when he went south toward Philadelphia. 
Washington wrote, "Howe's in a manner abandoning 
Burgoyne is so unaccountable a matter that, till I am 
fully assured of it, / cannot help casting my eyes contin- 
ually behind me.'' By the battles of Brandy^dne and 
Germantown, Washington kept Howe so occupied 
in Pennsylvania that the autumn came without his 
having joined Burgoyne. 

The English campaign started off most gayly. The 
British swept across Lake Champlain, captured Ticon- 
deroga, and pressed into the forest wilderness south 
of Lake George. Their goal was Fort Edward, where 
the American army was encamped. It took Burgoyne 
three weeks to traverse twenty miles. This was be- 
cause the Americans had made valiant use of ax and 
crowbar in blocking the British advance. 

But meanwhile his men were eating their three 
meals a day, and his stores were being exhausted. 
Burgoyne heard that at Bennington, Vermont, the 
Americans had gathered provisions, powder, and 
large numbers of horses. These were exactly what his 
army needed. He therefore sent a thousand Germans, 
under Baum, to capture this military depot. They, 



go 



SARATOGA 



however, were completely overwhelmed by the Ver- 
mont militia led by General John Stark. The effect 
of this brilliant victory was that large numbers of 
volunteers flocked to the American army under Gen- 
eral Gates on the Hudson River. 

Burgoyne's plight was most serious. His army was 

beginning to suffer for food. 
With scanty ammunition, 
few horses, and lessening 
troops, the outlook was in- 
deed dark. Still he was too 
loyal to Howe to retreat. 
He pictured the British com- 
mander in chief in straits sim- 
ilar to his own, some twenty 
or thirty miles farther south 
in the valley of the Hudson. 
To aid Howe there was noth- 
ing to do but to press forward. 
On September 13th Bur- 
goyne crossed the Hudson 
River on a bridge of boats. 
The Americans were en- 
camped upon the same side of the river on Bemis 
Heights, to the south of Saratoga. 

On the morning of September 19th, the British 
planned an attack upon the American position. 
The columns moved out from the enemy's camp 




Bennington monument. 



THE TURNING POINT OF THE WAR 



91 



under Fraser, Burgoyne, and Riedesel. The American 
scouts saw the ghtter of bayonets and the red patches 
of uniforms through the green trees, and gave the warn- 
ing. Morgan with his sharpshooters undertook to 
turn General Eraser's right, while General Benedict 




Arnold's fall at Freeman's Farm. 



Arnold threw himself upon his left with the view of 
cutting him off from the British center. Both Morgan 
and Arnold fought most brilliantly. The fighting was 
desperate on both sides, for one fourth of those engaged 
were either killed or wounded. The British out- 
numbered the Americans, as they were 4500, while 
the Americans numbered but 3000. Again and again 
Arnold sent messages to Gates, the commanding general, 



92 SARATOGA 

begging for reenforcements. The foolish Gates turned 
a deaf ear to his requests, and ii,ooo Americans sat on 
the hills watching their comrades engaged in an unequal 
but gallant struggle in the valley below. The British 
plan of attack was foiled by the dash of Arnold and 
Morgan. Such was the first battle of Freeman's Farm. 

Arnold claimed that, if Gates had properly sup- 
ported him, he might, then and there, have crushed 
Burgoyne. Gates scouted the idea, and the two 
generals quarreled fiercely. Gates relieved Arnold of 
his command and sent him his passports. 

Burgoyne could not rest upon his arms. His whole 
force was upon short allowance of food, and it was 
imperative that either he or the Americans should 
soon win the day. 

With picked troops and his most gallant ofiflcers, 
on October 7th, Burgoyne advanced for a second 
time against his stubborn foe at Freeman's Farm. 
General Fraser's column was once more stationed 
at the right, and Morgan with his sharpshooters again 
attacked him with fury. 

Deprived of his command, Arnold was watching 
the battle from the heights. As the troops swayed to 
and fro, he suddenly saw how a furious charge might 
win the day. He threw himself upon a horse and 
galloped down the hill. The American troops hailed 
their ''fighting general" with joy. As he was the 
senior officer on the field, his orders were instantly 



THE TURNING POINT OF THE WAR 



93 



obeyed. He led three brilliant charges, scattering two 
columns of the British. As a detachment of German 
troops was flying like chaff before him, a ball passed 
through his leg. His horse was killed at the same 
time, and he fell helpless to the ground. An Amer- 
ican soldier was about to bayonet the German who 
had wounded Arnold, but the suffering general stayed 
his hand with the words: "Don't kill him. He is a 
brave fellow !" If only Benedict Arnold might have 
died at that moment with these generous words upon 
his hps, our country would have been spared a dark 
and painful chapter. 

The American army now consisted of 20,000 men, and 
outnumbered the British four to one. The soldiers 
in the English army were worn by weeks of incessant 
toil, privation, sickness, and desperate fighting. They 
were in an amphitheater with hills all around, and the 
enemy's cannon playing on every part of their camp. 

To contend with such odds was impossible. At 
Saratoga, on the 17th of October, Burgoyne sur- 
rendered 5791 men, 42 guns, and 4600 muskets. 

The country rang with praises for Gates. All the 
glory of great success was his, although the praise was 
really due to Arnold, Morgan, and, above all, to Wash- 
ington. He it was who had kept Howe at the south, 
even by fighting losing battles with him again and 
again. 

All Europe was impressed by Saratoga. The na- 



94 



SARATOGA 



tions came to believe that the Americans would win 
their freedom. France was an enemy of England, and 
she now decided to ally herself with the United States. 



i f*'.' f I, - 




. t \\ u 



Burgoyne surrenders to Gates. 



Our cause was henceforth hers. She gave us money, 
suppHes, troops, and even the aid of a fleet. All 
these advantages were the direct result of Burgoyne 's 
surrender at Saratoga. 



GREENE AND MORGAN IN THE SOUTH 

During the last years of the Revolution, the war 
was carried on chiefly in the south. As in 1777, 
the British now formed a careful plan of attack. Their 
aim was to conquer the southernmost colony, Georgia ; 
then to conquer South Carolina ; then North Carolina ; 
and so on, until each in turn had been won back to 
the mother country. 

At first they were most successful. The Americans 
were defeated again and again. Savannah and Charles- 
ton were surrendered to the British, and both Georgia 
and South Carolina were overrun by the enemy. 
The fall of Charleston was a terrible blow, for General 
Lincoln, the American commander, was there forced 
to surrender the only patriot army in that field. Aside 
from the Httle bands of Marion, Sumter, and Pickens, 
there was no armed resistance to the enemy. 

A new commander must be sent south. Congress 
consulted Washington, who strongly advised the choice 
of Greene. Congress, however, was still much im- 
pressed by Saratoga and gave the command to General 
Gates. Gates acted with rare folly, and at last rushed 
upon a terrible defeat at Camden, where the British 
destroyed a second American army. The British 

95 



96 



GREENE AND MORGAN IN THE SOUTH 



now overran North Carolina and even threatened the 
great state of Virginia itself. The darkest hour of the 
Revolution in the south had been struck. 

Congress had been taught a lesson in watching the 
collapse of its favorite, Gates. This time the choice 

of southern commander was 
left to Washington, who named 
General Greene. 

Greene's undertaking was 
most difficult, owing to the 
defeats of Lincoln and Gates. 
He must first create an army ; 
he must equip it with suitable 
clothing and weapons ; he must 
drill these troops until they 
would stand and deliver shot 
in the faces of a charging 
enemy. Greene was a man of 
great patience ; he would not 
be tempted to fight until his 
army was ready. Meanwhile 
he examined and surveyed the rivers, located the fords, 
and studied the roads. Thus the country became an 
open book to him. 

The army of the south, though poor in numbers, 
was rich in officers. Besides Greene and Morgan, 
there were Henry Lee and Colonel William Washing- 
ton, a cousin of the commander in chief. Both Lee 




Nathanael Greene. 



CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION 97 

and Washington were placed in command of cavalry. 
The partisan commanders, Marion and Sumter, the 
swift and sly '' swamp foxes," had been despised by 
Gates. Greene, however, saw what valuable allies 
they were and constantly made them a factor in his 
plans. 

The British leaders were Lord Cornwallis and 
Colonel Tarleton, men of great ability. The British 
numbered 3100 veteran troops; the Americans num- 
bered 2000, and many of these were fresh recruits. 
To bring the armies together in battle would be utter 
folly for the Americans. The part for them to play 
was one of strategy. So Greene divided his small 
force, placing 900 under Daniel Morgan. Colonel 
Washington with his cavalry also made a part of Mor- 
gan's separate command. 

Cornwallis found himself much hampered by this 
two-headed enemy. He must keep Greene in check, 
yet Morgan's men were here, there, and everywhere, 
menacing strong posts and doing all the damage they 
could. 

He finally decided to divide his forces also. Tarleton 
was given command of iioo British arid sent to crush 
Morgan. The latter led the redcoats a long chase 
until they were quite worn out. Then he stopped 
at the Cowpens ready to give battle. The Co^vpens 
were upland meadows where cattle were branded. 

That evening Morgan went about among the camps 

COE M. — 7 



98 



GREENE AND MORGAN IN THE SOUTH 



of the North CaroHna militia, telling the men some- 
thing of his plan of battle and urging them to stand 
firm on the morrow. These were the unseasoned 
troops, and much depended upon their conduct in 
battle. All Morgan asked of them was three shots. 




The battle at the Cowpens. 



Let them stand firm for that length of time, and the 
fight was won. 

Morgan aroused his troops early and saw that they 
had a good breakfast. Then he arranged them in 
line of battle and told each division exactly what 
was expected of it. In front he placed the North 
Carolina and Georgia militia ; one hundred and fifty 
yards behind them, on the brow of a hill, were the 



CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION 99 

Maryland Continentals ; one hundred and fifty yards 
behind them, but out of sight, on a second rising 
ground, were the cavalry under William Washington. 
Behind all was a deep river, for there was to be no 
retreat. 

The militia were to deliver three shots at kiUing 
distance and then retire behind the Continentals. 
The Continentals were to stand their ground firmly, 
and they would be supported by the cavalry which 
Washington was to wheel against the enemy at the 
critical moment. The plan was certainly an admirable 
one. 

Tarleton's troops had been hurrying over muddy 
roads and crossing swollen brooks all night. At 
dawn they reached the Cowpens, and rushed at once 
upon their foe. 

The militia did nobly. They stood their ground and 
delivered not three, but many shots. Then, in excel- 
lent order, they retired, as they had been directed, 
behind the little hill on which were posted the Conti- 
nentals. These were as fine troops as fought in the 
Revolution. The British thought that the Americans 
were giving way. They rushed forward to be met 
by a terrible fire. While they faltered. Colonel W^ash- 
ington charged upon their right flank with his cavalry, 
and the American' militia, which had reformed behind 
the hill, enfolded them upon their left. They were 
completely surrounded, and they threw down their 



100 GREENE AND MORGAN IN THE SOUTH 

arms and surrendered. Tarleton, with a few of his 
officers, cut his way through the Hnes and galloped 
off. But he left behind over 600 of his men prison- 
ers, while 230 lay wounded or dead upon the field. 
The American loss was very small, — 12 killed and 61 
wounded. 

"From the point of tactics this was one of the most 
brilliant battles of the war." Morgan had surrounded 
and captured a force equal to his own, and, what was 
quite as wonderful, he had made his miHtia fight well. 

Morgan now acted with the utmost prudence. He 
knew that Cornwallis, who was not far distant, would 
pursue him in revenge for this victory. Accordingly 
he led his men in rapid retreat to the northward. 
He outmarched Cornwallis and crossed the fords of 
the Catawba first. On January 30th, Greene joined 
Morgan and took command. 

And now Greene took up again Washington's old 
game of the fox and the hounds. Such a sly fox as 
he showed himself to be ! He gathered up all the 
boats along the rivers he reached. Some he destroyed 
to prevent their falling into the hands of the British ; 
others he mounted upon wheels, so that they could 
readily be drawn along with the troops in their rapid 
march. 

CornwalHs found himself impeded by his heavy 
baggage. Accordingly he destroyed it. When Greene 
heard this, he exclaimed gleefully, ''He is ours!" 



CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION 



lOl 



At last Greene offered battle at Guilford Court 
House, a place that he had thoroughly examined some 
time before. Greene's arrangement of his men was 
not unlike that made by Morgan at the Cowpens. 
There were three lines, or barriers. First were posted 
the North Carolina militia, w^ith the American 
cavalry, under Lee and Washington, on their , 
flanks. In the second line were sta 
tioned the Virginia militia. Behind 
these were the Continentals, the 
first and second Maryland bri- 
gades, while the Virginia Continen- 
tals were held in reserve. 

The North Carolina militia fired 
two volleys, but broke and fled in wild 
panic at the first charge of the British. 
The enemy next hurled themselves 
against the Virginians. These behaved 
well. They stood their ground stub- 
bornly, and were nobly aided in their 
resistance by the American cavalry, who charged the 
British flanks. When, at last, they gave way, they 
retreated slowly and in excellent order. 

When the British encountered the third line of the 
Americans, the first Maryland not only opened a stub- 
born resistance, but in a gallant charge drove the Brit- 
ish backward. The second Maryland brigade, how- 
ever, were driven from the field, leaving behind them 




Flag of Morgan's 
Rifle Corps. 



I02 GREENE AND MORGAN IN THE SOUTH 

two field pieces. These were afterwards retaken by 
the first Maryland brigade, while the American cavalry 
charged again and again upon the enemy. 

The outcome looked dubious to the British. Corn- 
wallis resorted to a desperate expedient. He ordered 
the artillery to play upon the fighting armies, even 
though it destroyed as many of his own men as of the 
enemy. Under the protection of the guns he reformed 
his troops for another charge. 

Greene had inflicted a severe blow upon Cornwallis. 
He dared not risk the loss of all his troops. An army 
must be kept in the field, or the game would be up. 
So he wisely ordered a retreat. 

The British remained as victors upon the field, but 
they had lost about 600 men, more than one quarter 
of their whole force. The American loss was 400. 
Cornwallis sent a glowing report of his success to 
England, but Charles Fox and a few other clear- 
sighted leaders saw the true state of affairs. ''A few 
more victories like that and we are undone," was the 
keen comment of Fox. Greene had ''lost his battle 
but won his campaign." 

Cornwallis marched to Wilmington, on the coast 
of North Carolina. There he debated what to do. 
He could return to Charleston, to begin his campaign 
anew, or he could join the British troops in Virginia. 
The latter plan was more pleasing to his pride, and 
this he decided to do. 



CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION 



103 



Long before this, General Greene had turned south- 
ward to capture posts held by the British and still 
further to free the southern states. 

From this time the American cause, thanks to 
Greene's energy and skill, grew brighter and brighter 
at the south until that glorious October day, at York- 
town, when Lord Cornwallis surrendered to Wash- 
ington and closed the long war of the Revolution. 










Gold medal awarded to General Morgan by Congress. 



FRANCIS MARION, THE SWAMP WILL O' THE 

WISP 

In May, 1780, General Lincoln surrendered the city 
of Charleston and 3000 American troops. Three months 
later a second army under General Gates was cut to 
pieces at Camden. Georgia and South Carolina were, in 
fact, reconquered, and the country was overrun by the 
British. 

During these gloomy months the only opposition to 
the sweeping conquests of the British was that offered 
by the partisan commanders, — Marion, Sumter, and 
Pickens. 

The partisan method of warfare was unusual. With 
numbers so small that they could not fight in the open 
field, the leaders sought at all times the sudden sur- 
prise. A sleeping camp, a small detachment of 
British escorting American prisoners, an isolated 
post, — these were what they fell upon like a bolt 
from the blue. Such was the suddenness of these 
appearances and the fierceness of their attack that 
they were almost always successful. Ten or a dozen 
of the foe killed, American prisoners set free, needed 
stores secured, — these were the results obtained. 
They were not large in themselves, but what was of 

104 



THE SWAMP WILL O' THE WISP 



105 



importance was that the British were never at ease. 
At any moment the foe might be upon them. 

Let us see how Marion built up his famous '^bri- 
gade." His followers were those he gathered himself. 
They were bound by no term of enlistment and could 




Sweet potatoes are served to Marion and his guest. 

leave him at any time. They were seldom more than 
seventy in number, and sometimes their ranks fell as 
low as sixteen. 

The food was plain and often scanty. Hominy, 
rice, and sweet potatoes were the staples. Marion 
and his men could live very well on such fare. 
The story is told of a British officer who came to their 



io6 FRANCIS MARION 

camp under truce. Great was his astonishment when 
he found that the dinner consisted of nothing but 
roasted sweet potatoes, and that they were served on 
pieces of bark. But, as Marion said, "Hunger is the 
best sauce." 

The arms of the brigade were, at first, of the poor- 
est sort. The men robbed the sawmills, and black- 
smiths ground the saws into rude swords. Pewter 
mugs, spoons, and plates were melted into bullet 
molds. But after a few raids the men provided them- 
selves with the guns, powder, and small arms that 
they took from the enemy. 

The brigade was rarely in the same place for two suc- 
cessive days. Their headquarters, however, were on 
Snow's Island, in the Pedee River, South Carolina. 
An outsider could never have found this swamp 
island. It was surrounded by a network of creeks, 
rivers, forests, swamps, and undergrowth. Tangled 
vines of laurel and sweet-scented jessamine threw 
their frail bars across the way. All the boats in the 
neighborhood had been collected by Marion. Those 
he needed he moored at the island; all others he 
destroyed. In Bryant's well-known poem. Song of 
Marion's Men, their forest home is thus described : 

'' Our fortress is the good greenwood, 
Our tent the cypress tree ; 
We know the forest round us, 
As seamen know the sea. 



THE SWAMP WILL O' THE WISP 107 

We know its walls of thorny vines, 

Its glades of reedy grass, 
Its safe and silent islands 

Within the dark morass." 

Much of Marion's success as a leader was due to the 
fact that he never told his plans to a soul. He listened 
to the reports of his scouts and consulted with his 
officers, but he decided his moves against the enemy, 
himself. 

As the sinking sun flooded swamp and forest with its 
crimson fire, Marion's men sprang into their saddles 
and followed their leader blindly. They trusted him 
perfectly, because he had never led them to defeat. 
Although poor in food, clothing, and ammunition, 
his companions were splendidly mounted. They rode 
the finest and fleetest of horses, and this was wise, for 
their lives often depended upon the swiftness of the 
steeds they rode. To strike and to get away was 
Marion's policy. 

When Marion planned to attack a camp, his men 
surrounded it silently. Next, taking careful aim by 
the light of the camp fires, at a given signal each shot 
his man. Then, in the confusion, horses were seized, 
prisoners were made, and the valiant little band 
plunged off into the darkness. 

If the band were closely pursued, they scattered for 
greater safety. Marion could hide so cleverly that 
often the members of his brigade, who knew all his 




"Marion's men sprang into their saddles." 
io8 



THE SWAMP WILL O' THE WISP 



109 



haunts, found it hard to rejoin him. No wonder the 
British angrily called him the ''swamp fox." 

Every month the enemy were harassed by some dare- 
devil deed of Marion's. In August, 1780? an English 
party, with one hundred and fifty prisoners taken at 
Camden, were near Nelson's Ferry on the Santee 
River. At daybreak Marion's men swooped down 
upon them, freed the American prisoners, captured 
twenty-six of the escort, and then sped off. 

Another time the brigade actually entered George- 
town and carried away the commander of the post 
from the midst of his men. The very insolence of the 
deeds infuriated the enemy. 

Scores of stories might be told of the daring of 
individuals in the band. One man was closely pur- 
suing a British officer through the forest. He had far 
outdistanced his comrades, so that he was now alone. 
Suddenly he found himself riding directly upon a 
company of Tories. With enemies all around him, 
he played the game of bluff. Turning in his saddle, 
he waved his arm and shouted: ''Here they are, 
boys. Come on!" The Tories thought the whole 
band were at his heels, and turned and fled. 

Francis Marion was "a man of few words and 
modest demeanor . . . but a knight in courtesy, 
truthfulness, and courage." On this account he has 
been called the "Bayard of the South." 



JOHN PAUL JONES, THE FOUNDER OF THE 
AMERICAN NAVY 

John Paul, like many of the English admirals, was 
born within sight and sound of the sea. His father 
was a poor Scotch gardener whose cottage stood on the 
north shore of the Sol way Firth. The child ran on the 
beach and watched the great ships tacking in and out 

of the Solway. Very soon 
he was allowed to manage 
a small sailing boat and be- 
gan to earn his own living 
by fishing. 

When he was thirteen, 
the master of a ship 
watched him bring his boat 
to harbor through a driv- 
ing squall. Immediately he offered to make Paul cabin 
boy on his vessel, which was sailing soon to America. 
So John Paul voyaged to the New World and to Vir- 
ginia, where his older brother WiUiam was already 
settled as a planter. 

In 1773 his brother died and left him his property 
in Virginia. The next two years John Paul spent as a 
planter. The time passed happily because the young 




The first national flag. 



THE FOUNDER OF THE AMERICAN NAVY iii 

man had formed a warm friendship for Willie Jones, 
a man of much importance in North Carolina. At 
this time he took the surname of Jones. Henceforth 
he was known as John Paul Jones. 

In 1775 war began between England and America. 
For two hundred years England had been supreme 
upon the sea. From the first, her navy gave her a 
tremendous advantage over the colonies. She could 
attack any town on the seacoast or on a deep river. 
By means of her fleet she could rapidly move troops 
from place to place. 

Congress set to work at once to build up a navy. 
But it was slow work. The duty of the American ships 
would be to attack English vessels on the high sea and 
to raid the coasts of the Enghsh colonies in Canada 
and the West Indies. Perhaps, in time, they might 
even dare to attack coast towns in Great Britain 
itself. 

Jones became a captain in the American navy. He 
was given a beautiful ship, the Ranger, and was directed 
to prowl along the coasts of Great Britain and to do 
all the damage he could. As the Ranger had just been 
launched in Portsmouth, some young ladies there wished 
to give her a silk flag. So they made the first Stars 
and Stripes that ever floated over an American man-of- 
war. The white for the stars was contributed by a 
young bride, who used bits of her silk wedding dress. 

Jones made a successful raid on the coasts of the Irish 



112 



JOHN PAUL JONES 



Sea. He first attacked White Haven and then crossed 
to Carrickfergus on the Irish coast. The Drake, a 
sloop of war that carried twenty guns, as against eight- 
een of the Ranger, lay in the harbor. Jones cruised 
about for several days, hoping that she would come out 




" The Drake finally surrendered." 

and give battle. At last the Drake appeared, and with 
her came several small boats full of people eager to see 
a sea fight. They all confidently expected the capture 
of the bold little Ranger. But their hopes were bitterly 
disappointed, for it was the Drake that finally sur- 
rendered. 

England was much startled by Jones's achievement. 



THE FOUNDER OF THE AMERICAN NAVY 113 

Never before, in modern times, had an English warship 
surrendered to a craft of lesser power. Was the world 
coming to an end ? 

The Drake with several other prizes was taken to 
Brest. Thence the Ranger was sent home, while Jones 
waited to take command of a small fleet which Ben- 
jamin Franklin was gathering and equipping in France. 

Franklin did his best, but any delays were most 
vexatious to Jones. One day, it is said, he happened 
to take up an old almanac by Poor Richard. One of 
the maxims read : "If a man wishes to have any busi- 
ness faithfully and expeditiously performed, let him 
go on it himself; otherwise, send." Jones was much 
impressed, and, from this time on, went to the French 
court himself, instead of sending letters and messages 
as he had been doing. Matters did move more speedily ; 
so, in gratitude to Franklin and his homely wisdom, 
Jones named his flagship the Bon Homme Richard. 

The Richard was an extraordinary flagship for a 
fleet, for she was an old East Indiaman that had been 
pierced for forty guns. The Pallas and two smaller 
craft formed Jones's fleet, with the Alliance, the finest 
warship of them all. She had been built very recently 
in Massachusetts and was well armed and equipped in 
every way. Unfortunately the command had been 
given to a French captain named Landais, who proved 
insubordinate. 

The American fleet safled to the north of Scotland. 



114 JOHN PAUL JONES 

Jones planned to make a descent upon Leith and 
entered the Firth of Forth. Sir Walter Scott, then a 
school-boy, well recollected the dismay and terror 
aroused by his coming. One minister gathered his 
congregation on the sandy beach, where they knelt 
and prayed for a west wind. 

And the wind did come. ''A steady and powerful 
west wind settled the matter by sweeping Paul Jones 
and his vessels out of the Firth of Forth." But the 
''ill wind" was perhaps not so ill to Jones after all. 
Had he been detained in Leith, he might not have 
encountered the fleet of forty-two sail off Flamborough 
Head. They were forty English merchantmen bound 
for the Baltic and escorted by two warships, the 
Serapis, Captain Pearson, with fifty guns, and the 
Countess of Scarborough, with twenty-four guns. 

While the merchant vessels crowded all sail to escape 
the foe, the Serapis and the Countess of Scarborough 
turned to engage the enemy. The Bon Homme Richard 
alone drew near boldly. The Pallas hovered uncer- 
tainly at a distance, while the Alliance ran some way 
out to sea. 

As the Serapis and the Richard neared each other. 
Captain Pearson shouted: "What ship is that? An- 
swer immediately or I shall be under the necessity of 
firing into you." The next moment broadsides blazed 
from both ships, and the battle began. This was about 
seven o'clock of the evening of September 23d, 1779. 



THE FOUNDER OF THE AMERICAN NAVY 



115 



The Serapis was a new fast warship, well officered and 
manned, superior in every way to the Bon Homme 
Richard. 

The most powerful guns of the Bon Homme Richard 
were six old eighteen-pounders from whose action 
Jones hoped much. Early in the fight two of these 
guns burst, killing several men in the gun room. After 
this, no one dared fire the others, so that the Richard was 
crippled from the start. 

During the din and confusion the two ships ma- 
neuvered for favorable positions. At last they ran into 
each other. This was just what Jones wanted, for 
''he ever loved close fighting." With his own hands he 
lashed the two ships together. The English gunners 
had not opened the gun ports on the side now toward 
the Richard. They fired directly through the closed 
ports into the enemy's hull. The damage wrought 
was terrible. Part of the Richard^ s side was gone, and 
the waves washed freely through the awful gap. 

"Do you surrender?" shouted Pearson. 

" I have not yet begun to fight," was Jones's dauntless 
answer. 

The Americans had been driven to the upper deck 
and the rigging. Jones had now the use of but three 
guns. These were nine-pounders, whose loading he 
superintended himself. They swept the enemy's deck 
with such deadly aim that the British fled below. 
Then Jones ordered the gunners to aim at the main- 




"The loading he superintended himself. 
ii6 



THE FOUNDER OF THE AMERICAN NAVY 117 

mast. If that could be overthrown, the Serapis would 
be severely crippled. 

The Alliance now drew near, and Jones counted much 
on her support. What was his horror when she fired 
into the bow, the broadside, and the stern of the Bon 
Homme Richard I Several of the best men were killed, 
and an able officer was mortally wounded. "The 
Alliance has been captured by the British and is now 
capturing us!" This explanation seemed the only 
one possible ; it was not, however, a true one. Landais 
had given the order. He hated Jones and was indif- 
ferent to the harm he might inflict upon his ally. 
Later he was judged to be insane. 

The Pallas was maintaining a good fight against the 
Countess of Scarborough, but she could not aid the 
battered flagship. The Alliance was worse than use- 
less. The Bon Homme Richard stood alone. 

The mainmast of the Serapis had been tottering for 
some time. The persistent aim of the nine-pounders 
was having an effect. The Serapis was on fire in many 
places, and her guns were silent. The Bon Homme 
Richard was still bombarding with a few guns. Further 
resistance seemed useless, and Captain Pearson struck 
his flag at half past ten. The next moment a well- 
directed shot sent his mainmast crashing overboard. 

Never had fiercer battle been fought on the high seas. 
Each commander knew this. When Captain Pearson 
handed his sword to Captain Jones, the latter said : 



ii8 JOHN PAUL JONES 

" Sir, you have fought like a hero ; and I make no doubt 
your sovereign will reward you in the most ample 
manner." 

The Countess of Scarborough had also surrendered to 
the Pallas. John Paul Jones's one care was now the 
Richard. He toiled to keep her afloat, but that was 
soon seen to be impossible. At ten o'clock in the 
morning of September 25 th the brave old ship 
sank from sight beneath the waters of the North 
Sea. She carried down, flying at her masthead, the 
silk flag made by the Portsmouth girls. 

A year and a half later Captain Jones explained to 
one of these girls, Mary Langdon by name, that it had 
been his most ardent desire to bring that flag home to 
America, with all its glories, and give it back untar- 
nished into the fair hands that had presented it to him 
nearly four years before. "But, Miss Mary," he said, 
''I couldn't bear to strip it from the poor old ship in our 
last agony, nor could I deny to my dead on her decks, 
who had given their lives to keep it flying, the glory of 
taking it with them." 

"You did exactly right, Commodore!" exclaimed 
Miss Langdon. "That flag is just where we all wish 
it to be — flying at the bottom of the sea over the only 
ship that ever sank in victory." 

"The moral effect in Europe of such a victory within 
sight of the British coast was prodigious." The 
nations began to awake to the prestige of the republic 



THE FOUNDER OF THE AMERICAN NAVY 119 

of the West. England was most unpopular, and the 
great nations of Europe were pleased to heap honors 
upon the bold young navigator who might be said 
to have ''singed the English king's beard." 











Medal presented to Captain Jones by Congress. 

The United States Naval Academy, where young 
men are trained for the na\y, is at Annapolis, Mary- 
land. Not far from the great buildings sleep the 
remains of America's great admiral, John Paul Jones. 
He was ''the father of the American na\y, and for 
nearly one hundred years his was the grandest figure 
in the naval history of his adopted country." 



LAFAYETTE, THE SERVANT OF MANKIND 

" We bow not the neck, 
We bend not the knee, 
But our hearts, Lafayette, 
We surrender to thee." 

— Song of 1824. 

It is a beautiful fact that in all countries there are 
born, at times, men who are absolutely unselfish. Such 
men do not seek wealth, or fame, or power ; their single 
purpose in life is to help their fellow men. George 
Washington was a man of this type ; so also was the 
Marquis de Lafayette, a citizen and soldier of France. 

If ever there was a child born with a silver spoon in 
its mouth, it was Gilbert, the Marquis de Lafayette. 
The httle nobleman was given the best education the 
city of Paris afforded. At thirteen he fell heir to an 
immense estate. At sixteen he married Adrienne, 
a granddaughter of the Duke of Noailles (no-a'y'), so 
that by birth and by marriage he belonged to the 
noblest families in France. 

Lafayette had an earnest nature and could not bear 
to idle his time at court or on his beautiful estates. 
He must do something that seemed to him worth 
while. The only career open to a nobleman at that time 

120 



THE SERVANT OF MANKIND 121 

was a military one. So Lafayette became a captain 
of dragoons and was stationed at Metz. 

The Duke of Gloucester, a brother of George III, 
visited Metz in the summer of 1776. A banquet was 
given to the royal guest, and of course Lafayette was 
present. During the dinner much of the talk turned 
upon the struggle of England with her colonies in 
America. Soldiers v/ere naturally interested in fight- 
ing; the Duke of Gloucester brought authentic news; 
all men were eager to hear, but one more so than the 
rest. Knowledge of colonial farmers struggling bravely 
for the rights of man and for their sacred liberties fired 
the ardent soul of Lafayette. Before he rose from the 
table he had resolved to cross the ocean and to offer 
his sword to the Americans. 

The American commissioner, Silas Deane, promised 
Lafayette the rank of major general in the Continental 
army. At the same time he confessed that the Ameri- 
can credit was so low that he was unable to secure a 
vessel in which to transport European volunteers to 
America. To this Lafayette replied, ''Thus far you 
have seen my zeal only ; now it shall be something 
more. I will purchase and equip a vessel myself. It 
is while danger presses that I wish to join your forces.'^ 

Accordingly the Marquis bought and secretly began 
to equip a vessel named the Victory. His plans soon 
became known, and the king, Louis XVI, commanded 
him to remain at home. 



122 MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE 

But Lafayette cared very little for the hue and cry 
of the court. He went steadily on with his prepara- 
tions. However, he saw that he must plan most care- 
fully or he would be detained by force. 

The Victory sailed for a Spanish port. Crossing the 
Pyrenees in the disguise of a courier, Lafayette at last 
boarded his vessel and set sail for the new world. 
With him were Baron de Kalb, a soldier of wide 
experience, and ten or twelve French officers. 

On April 19, 1777, the little party landed at midnight 
on the American coast near Georgetown, South Caro- 
lina. Next came the journey overland to Phila- 
delphia, where bitter disappointment awaited the little 
party. Congress, having been constantly besieged 
by foreign adventurers, all clamoring for high offices 
and boasting of their rank and experience in continen- 
tal armies, did not immediately recognize Lafayette 
and De Kalb as men of different caliber. They were 
told that there were no more positions for officers 
vacant. Lafayette showed his commission *of major 
general granted him by Commissioner Deane, but 
Congress refused to honor it. 

Lafayette, however, was not discouraged. He wrote 
a letter to Congress asking permission to join the 
Continental army as a volunteer without pay. 

That letter awakened Congress to the unselfish 
spirit of one foreigner at least. Very shortly after 
this he was granted that for w^hich he had longed. 



THE SERVANT OF MANKIND 



123 



He was made a major general, and, at the age of nine- 
teen, took rank with Gates, Greene, Lincoln, and Lee. 
Further, Washington invited him to become his aid. 




"He looked into the earnest eyes of the French lad. 



Lafayette was not a handsome man. He was short, 
slight, pale, with plain features and red hair. Washing- 
ton, however, was drawn to him at their first meeting. 
The commander in chief was a judge of men. He 
looked into the earnest eyes of the French lad and read 
there a heart of gold and a spirit that would be loyal 
and true to its last breath. A beautiful friendship 
sprang up between the man and the boy. It was 



124 MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE 

always ''my dear general" and ''my young soldier." 
Lafayette has been called " the favorite pupil" of Wash- 
ington. Washington was, in his judgment, a great 
soldier and the best of men. All he could, he would 
learn from him. 

Another beautiful quality in Lafayette was his 
sympathy. He made our cause his ; he became an 
American while serving in our army. At the battle 
of the Brandy wine he received a severe wound in the 
leg, of which he was for a time unaware. He wrote 
later, "The honor to have mingled my blood with that 
of many other American soldiers on the heights of the 
Brandy wine has been to me a source of pride and 
delight." And again, "I had the good fortune to bleed 
for our cause." It was always our cause to Lafayette, 
the faithful ! 

Some day you will follow Lafayette's career through 
the American Revolution with keen interest. This 
sketch of his life can but mention the places associated 
with him. He suffered at Valley Forge ; he out- 
maneuvered Howe at Barren Hill ; he played a tactful 
and spirited part at Monmouth and Newport. He 
showed his beautiful loyalty to Washington again and 
again. 

Early in the spring of 1779, Lafayette was given 
leave of absence to return to his native land. France 
was now our ally, but there was, at times, friction 
between the two nations. It was thought that the 



THE SERVANT OF MANKIND 125 

presence in France of so wise and true a friend as the 
marquis would help the American cause. 

In April Lafayette returned to his adopted country. 
He brought the best of news. France was soon to send 
the Count Rochambeau with 6000 troops to be under 
the orders of Washington. 

The most brilliant exploits of the marquis came 
during the last year of the war, when he held an inde- 
pendent command in Virginia. Lord Cornwallis, out- 
generaled in the Carolinas, appeared upon the scene 
and planned to capture that ''boy." But the young 
nobleman had learned from Washington the method 
of masterly retreat, and he so maneuvered and marched 
his little army of 3000 men that Cornwallis grew weary 
and abandoned the chase. 

The English earl withdrew his 7000 men to York- 
town, where he proceeded to fortify himself behind 
intrenchments. Lafayette took position at Malvern 
Hill. 

Yorktown was a peninsula. On three sides was the 
deep sea ; the fourth side was a narrow isthmus. 
Cornwallis had chosen this position that he might have 
easy communication with the English fleet. 

But foes of Cornwallis could also lay plans. Wash- 
ington was daily expecting news of the arrival of the 
French fleet of twenty-eight ships and 20,000 men 
under Count de Grasse. With such tremendous 
reenforcements what might not be accomplished ? If 



126 



MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE 






De Grasse sailed for New York, the French and the 
Americans could recapture the city from Clinton. If, 
instead of New York, the goal of the fleet was Chesa- 
peake Bay, Cornwallis might be forced to surrender. 
So Washington held himself ready for either campaign. 
On August 14th, 1 781, a message came from De 
Grasse, saying that he was sailing for the Chesapeake. 

Washington then prepared to 
execute a wonderful move. 
He meant to hurl his army 
five hundred miles to crush 
Cornwallis. The French, 
under Rochambeau, and the 
Continentals marched over- 
land together. At first both 
British and Americans 
thought these movements were directed against Clin- 
ton in New York. It was not until Philadelphia was 
reached that Washington's destination dawned upon 
the Americans, and then their glee knew no bounds. 
Flags were displayed ; flowers were thrown upon the 
dusty troops; shouts of huzzas filled the air. ''Long 
live Washington" was the toast of the moment. ''He 
has gone to catch Cornwallis in his mousetrap !" 

De Grasse was first at the rendezvous. He besieged 
Yorktown by sea, while Lafayette took up his posi- 
tion on the isthmus. The "mousetrap" was closed. 
Still Cornwalls did not move. He was not afraid of 




THE SERVANT OF MANKIND 



127 



Lafayette whose forces he far outnumbered. But he 
waited a trifle too long. "A greater than Lafayette 
was at hand." On September 26th, Washington's 
army of 16,000 troops invested Yorktown. 

The story of the next three weeks may be very briefly 
told. The Americans pressed nearer to the British 
lines and at length carried two redoubts by storm. On 
the following day, the fifteenth of October, the British 
made an unsuccessful sortie. Their breastworks were 
now falling into ruin under the bombardment of seventy 
cannons. There could be but one end to such a situation 
and, on the seventeenth, the fourth anniversary of Bur- 
goyne's surrender at Saratoga, Lord Cornwallis raised 
the white flag. Two days later, on October 19th, the 
second British army surrendered to the Americans. 

This was really the close of the war. Lafayette, by 
his energy, courage, and excellent judgment, had done 
much towards securing this great American triumph. 

It would be interesting to read of Lafayette's wonder- 
ful career in France, of his relations to another Revo- 
lution, of his rises and falls in public esteem, of his 
loss of property, of his five years' imprisonment — ■ 
events as thrilling as any in a story. But through all 
the changes of a singularly checkered career we find 
Lafayette the man, true to the principles of liberty, 
equality, and fraternity that he had cherished as a lad. 
His friendship with Washington and with America 
was the great joy of his life. 




Lafayette statue, Washington, D.C. 
128 



THE SERVANT OF MANKIND 129 

He made two visits to America — ^ one in 1784, the 
other in 1824. In 1784 he landed in New York and 
went by way of Philadelphia and Baltimore to visit 
Washington at Mount Vernon. They were happy days 
that the two friends spent together reviewing the recent 
past. Lafayette then went to Boston and later along 
the coast to Yorktown, where he revisited the battle 
ground of three years before. He then returned to 
Mount Vernon to say farewell to Washington. This was 
a final parting, although neither realized it at the time. 
He promised to return soon, but forty years passed by 
before he stepped again upon American soil. 

He was now a man of sixty-seven. Washington and 
other friends of the Revolution were in their long sleep. 
But ,the children and grandchildren of those he had 
served rose up to welcome him, and America, the Great 
Republic, was alive and deeply grateful. Lafayette 
was grateful, too, for America had sought at all times 
to stand by him. When his family was endangered 
by the furious Red Republicans of France, it was 
America that had offered an asylum to the young heir, 
George Washington Lafayette. When the mob leaders 
in Paris would have sent Madame Lafayette to the 
guillotine, Gouverneur Morris, the American minister, 
defied them. ^'If you kill the wife of Lafayette," he 
said, ''all the enemies of the Republic . . . will rejoice ; 
you will make America hostile and justify England in 
her slanders against you." This bold talk cost Morris 

COE M. — 9 



I30 MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE 

his office, but Madame Lafayette's life was saved. 
When Lafayette's fortune was swept away, American 
friends sent him money, and Congress gave him large 
tracts of land in the newly acquired Louisiana. So, 
with a heart swelling with gratitude and love, Lafayette 
trod again the shores of his other country. 

The year and a half he spent here was one long fete. 
He visited every one of the twenty-four states, — the 
eleven new as well as the thirteen old. He went over 
all the Revolutionary battle fields ; he wept at Camden 
by the grave of his old comrade, Baron de Kalb ; he 
laid the cornerstones of monuments to De Kalb at 
Camden and to Pulaski at Savannah. On June 17th, 
1825, as the only present sur\d\ing officer of the army 
of the Revolution, he laid the cornerstone of Bunker 
Hill monument at Charlestown. 

But his most sacred hour in America was that in 
which, leaning on the arm of his son, George Washing- 
ton Lafayette, he entered the tomb at Mount Vernon 
and approached the coffin of his beloved friend, George 
Washington. With bared head, he stood for a while 
in silence. Then with the tears rolling down his 
cheeks, he bent to kiss the name plate and turned 
away. 

Lafayette died full of years and honors, on May 20th, 
1834. ''His name shines aloft like a star." He was 
a true servant of his fellow men, and ''his fame can be 
measured only by the limits of a world's gratitude." 



DANIEL BOONE OF KENTUCKY 

" Some to endure, and many to quail, 
Some to conquer, and many to fail, 
Toiling over the Wilderness Trail." 

In our study of the battles of the Revolutionary War, 
we have seen the importance of a flank movement. 
If you can carry the left or the right flank of your 
enemy, you have him at a great disadvantage. 

During the Revolution the western flank of the 
Continental army was the region of the Allegheny 
Mountains. From 1775 to 1783 there were settlers 
from the colonies trying to make homes for themselves 
in the far section west of those mountains, known 
as Kentucky. So bitterly and fiercely did the red 
men oppose the coming of the whites that the soil 
of Kentucky came to be called ''the dark and bloody 
ground." 

The pioneers served the cause of freedom more than 
they themselves realized. Had they given way, the 
English and Indians would undoubtedly have entered 
Pennsylvania and Virginia from the west. An attack 
from this side would have been a crushing blow to the 
American army. The Kentucky pioneer, fighting for 
his few acres of farmland and the lives of his wife and 

131 



132 DANIEL BOONE 

children, was really a soldier in Washington's army, 
though he knew it not. He stood shoulder to shoulder 
with Greene, Marion, and Daniel Morgan. 

The man who was foremost in this service to his 
country was Daniel Boone. He was a born pioneer and 




" Daniel became an excellent shot." 

leader of men. Let us see how his early training had 
fitted him for such a post. 

Daniel Boone was born in western Pennsylvania in 
1734. His father was a Quaker farmer. Mr. Boone 
had some fine grazing pastures quite a distance from 
his home. Daniel, from the time he was ten, lived for 
long months on this dairy farm. All day he spent in 
the wide out-of-doors, following the cows as they roved 
from place to place. 

The boy had no books, but the book of the great 
world was always open before him. His eyes became 



KENTUCKY PIONEER 



133 



wonderfully keen to read Nature's secrets.. His first 
weapon was the stem of a young sapling with a knot of 
tough roots at the end. With this he often brought 
down small game for the family table. 

When Daniel was twelve, his father gave him a rifle. 
How proud he was ! The gift was well worth while, 
for Daniel became an excellent shot and brought home 
venison and other game for the family. The skins of 
the creatures he shot or trapped he exchanged in Phila- 
delphia for hunting knives, flints, lead, and powder. 

When twenty-one years of age, Boone married and 
settled down in a rude little cabin upon the Yadkin 
River in North Carolina. During the next few years 
his hunting trips did not take him far from home. 
He farmed in the spring and summer, but went shooting 




The rude little cabin upon tLe Yadkin River." 



134 



DAXIEL BOOXE 



in the fall and winter. Game grew scarcer in time, as 
more settlers crowded into the valley of the Yadkin. 
The timid deer and buffalo retreated westward, and 
Daniel longed to follow them to their new haunts. 

In the ^^dnter of 1768 and 1769 John Finlay, an old 
friend of Boone, entered the Yadkin valley as a peddler. 
The two men had often talked of a trip to Kentucky, 
and now they determined to go. Plans were made in 
detail, and with the spring six sturdy horsemen, dressed 
in deerskin and carr}4ng blankets, kettles, salt, and a 
small supply of pro\isions strapped to their saddles, 
set off for the promised land. 

Passing through Cumberland Gap, they journeyed 
until they reached a place where a suitable camp might 
be made. This was on a small stream flo^nng into the 
Kentucky River. 

It was the custom of Boone and his friends to hunt 
in pairs. Deer was the chief game in the summer and 
fall. \Mien a deer had been brought do^\Ti, the hunter 
removed the skin and cut off the most eatable portions 
of the meat. These he packed upon his horse. On 
arri\'ing at the camp, he smoked the meat and cured 
the skin. 

A deerskin was worth a dollar in those days, and, as a 
horse could carr\' one hundred skins, the frontiersmen 
toiled \^ith high hopes. During the ^^Tnter season 
the coats of the otters and beavers were in fine condi- 
tion. These pelts were of greater value than deer- 



KENTUCKY PIONEER 135 

skins, so that the winter was the best time for the 
trappers. 

December had come. On the 2 2d of the month 
Boone and his brother-in-law, Stuart, were returning 
to camp, when they suddenly were surrounded by a 
party of Shawnee Indians. They forced the white 
men to conduct them to their camp, which they stripped 
of all it contained. Then they departed after ordering 
the white men home. 

Boone and Stuart could not bear the loss of a half 
year's work. They secretly followed upon the trail of 
the Shawnees^ and, overtaking them after five days, 
stole into camp at night and recaptured four or five of 
the horses. 

This, however, was a game at which two could play. 
The Indians pursued, in their turn, and overtook Boone 
and Stuart at the end of two days. The whites were 
held prisoners for a week. At the end of that time they 
made their escape on a dark night. 

Boone was determined to begin his labors all over 
again. Although a number of his companions returned 
to their homes, Daniel and his brother Squire, who had 
recently joined the party, remained alone in the wilder- 
ness. They were made of stern material ; their iron 
wills were set to accomplish the purpose for which they 
had sought Kentucky. 

Steadily the number of pelts grew again, as the winter 
drew on towards spring. In May, Squire Boone re- 



136 



DAXIEL BOOXE 



turned home with horses laden with skins, and with 
food for the famihes on the Yadkin. Daniel remained 

alone in the wilderness. 
Dangers were all 
about him from wild 
beasts as well as from 
man. He lodged in 
caves and in rude 
shelters of bark and 
boughs. He frequently 
changed his sleeping 
place that he might 
be safer from prowl- 
ing foes. He had very 
little powder and shot, 
so that his food was 
scanty. He spent his 
time in exploration, in 
learning the hills and 
river valleys, the dells 
and mountain peaks of 
the land of his love. 
He had hairbreadth es- 
capes from Indians, at 
one time leaping sixty feet down the cliffs to save 
himself from capture. Always there was the possibility 
of sudden illness or of the breaking of a Hmb in this 




Boone's leap of sixty teet. 



great solitude. 



Death might come at any moment. 



KENTUCKY PIONEER 



137 



and there was no human face within hundreds of 
miles. Still Daniel was far from unhappy. As a 
matter of fact, he was full of a deep jo} in his lonely 
experience. The beauty of the charming countr\^ and 
the wonders of nature filled his heart with a strange 
content. 

Squire returned after three months. The brothers 
toiled for another year, and then set out happily for 
home. They carried with them what seemed like 
ample means. But alas I when nearly home, they 
were attacked by a wandering tribe of Indians, and 
robbed of all their forest spoils. .\nd so Daniel re- 
turned poorer than when he had left his family two 
years before. ''Still, I have seen Kentucky," he said 
to liimself. Of calm and even temper, he never mur- 
mured at hard fortune. 

Early in the year 1775, a few men of wealth and prom- 
inence in North Carolina organized a land company 
for the purpose of settling Kentucky. Daniel Boone 
was to be a leader in the undertaking. 

First the land must be bought. In ]\Iarch, 1775, 
Boone gathered together some twelve hundred Chero- 
kees who ceded to the land company a large tract of 
land between the Kentucky and the Cumberland 
rivers. Fifty thousand dollars' worth of goods was 
given in exchange. 

The Cherokees did not promise the future settlers 
safety from the Indian tribes. They said, in meaning 



138 



DANIEL BOONE 



tones, that "a black cloud hung over the land." War- 
paths from north and south crossed this very territory. 
The danger to settlements was indeed great. 



I' /T^ 




Wild animals at the salt licks. 



A party of thirty men was led by Daniel Boone to 
Big Lick on the Kentucky River. Here it was decided 
to build Boonesborough. 

When the pioneers reached Big Lick, they beheld a 
most remarkable sight. Certain places in the soil 
of Kentucky contain large deposits of salt. The wild 
animals, as well as man, have need of salt. So they 
came in herds to lick the ground where these salty 
deposits are found. 

As Boone's party drew near Big Lick, they beheld 
between two and three hundred buffaloes. These 
huge creatures scattered in all directions — ''some 



KENTUCKY PIONEER 139 

running, some walking, others loping slowly and care- 
lessly, with young calves playing, skipping, and bound- 
ing through the plain. Such a sight some never saw 
before, nor perhaps ever may again." 

From the very first, the history of Boonesborough was 
a thrilling one. As a matter of fact, it was Daniel 
Boone's devotion that preserved the settlement again 
and again as you will see. 

Boonesborough consisted of a fort and rows of cabins 
arranged in the form of a rectangle. At the corners of 
the rectangle were blockhouses. Between the block- 
houses and cabins were to be palisades. But these 
were unfinished. 

The settlers lived on their farms, scattered in all 
directions from Boonesborough. It was only in time of 
danger that they retreated to the fort. When possible, 
they would drive their cattle before them and pen them 
in safety in the open space within the palisades. Water 
was a great necessity, and the women and children would 
labor hard to bring all they could from the spring into 
the fortress before the foe besieged it. When Indian 
attacks were expected, men kept watch night and day 
beside the rifle holes in blockhouse or palisades. At 
such times the women were as busy as the men. They 
loaded muskets and melted pewter into bullets; when 
the garrison was in special stress, they even defended the 
portholes. "It was a time to make heroes or cowards of 
either men or women — there was no middle course." 



140 



DANIEL BOONE 



The Kentucky settlements were obliged to depend 
upon the older colonies for such articles as salt, iron, 
lead, and powder. In 1777 Virginia sent to Boones- 
borough some large salt-boiling kettles and two ex- 
perienced salt makers. Crude salt could be obtained 
at the Licks, and the settlers were to be taught to pre- 
pare it for their own use. 

The men at Boonesborough divided themselves into 
two parties. Each was to work for six weeks at the 
Blue Licks. The first party, headed by Daniel Boone, 
began work on January ist, 1778. 

One day in February, Boone was returning to camp 
with his horse laden with meat and skins. It was 
snowing heavily. Suddenly he walked right into a 
party of Indian braves. From their dress they ap- 
peared to be on the warpath. He soon learned that 
their destination was Boonesborough. 

Now Daniel knew that his beloved town was short 
of men at this time. He also knew that the palisades 
had not been completed. His one idea was to save the 
women and children from a painful winter's march 
through the wilderness to the Indian villages north of 
the Ohio. He would do this, even though he had to 
sacrifice all the able-bodied men at the Salt Licks. 

After close thinking, he told the Indians that he 
would lead them to his camp, where he would persuade 
the men to surrender without a blow. This promise 
he kept. The salt workers were amazed ; they were 



KENTUCKY PIONEER 



141 



much perplexed at the strange conduct of their leader ; 
but they obeyed him without a murmur. 

Then happened what Daniel had foreseen. The 
Shawnees, delighted with the large number of captives 
they had taken, hastened homeward to celebrate this 
victory. They 
reasoned that in the 
spring they could 
remove the women 
and children more 
easily than in the 
dead of winter. 

As they marched 
northward, his com- 
rades understood 
Boone's strategy 
and admired his 
cunning. Boones- 
borough in a few 
days would dis- 
cover that the salt 
makers had been 
taken captive. She 
would then foresee 




Boone is adopted by the Shawnees. 



her danger and prepare for the worst. As for them, 
there was always the chance for escape. 

But, as Boone soon found, the captives were watched 
night and day. To escape was impossible. He there- 



142 



DANIEL BOONE 



fore did his best to win the trust of the Shawnees and 
to lead them to think that he was happy in his fate. 
He told stories, chatted over past skirmishes, ran races, 
and introduced tests for rifle practice. 

The Shawnees grew so fond of Boone that they adopted 
him into their tribe, and he became the son of Black 
Fish, a chief of the Shawnees. He was washed in the 
river in order to "wash out his white blood," his hair 
was pulled out, leaving only the scalp lock, and he was 
given the name of Big Turtle. 

Weeks and months went by with still no chance of 
escape. In time, as the Indians came to trust Boone 
more, he was allowed powder and shot that he might 
obtain food for the village. But his bullets were always 
counted, and he was obliged to show game for every 
shot expended. The Shawnees did not intend Daniel 
Boone to la}^ up a store of ammunition for himself. 
However, he was more cunning than they. He cut 
his bullets in halves, and so, in time, had a quantity of 
ammunition buried in the ground for safe keeping. 

At last Daniel knew that immediate escape must be 
made if he would save Boonesborough. On return- 
ing from a hunt one day, he found many strange 
Indians in the Shawnee village. He knew enough now 
of the Indian speech to understand what was under way. 
Boonesborough was the place of attack, and Daniel's 
hosts were making ready to accompany their friends. 

Early in the morning Boone stole to the spot where 



KENTUCKY PIONEER 143 

his ammunition was hidden, secured it, and started 
upon his long journey. He was one hundred and sixty 
miles from home. 

In two days he had covered seventy miles and had 
reached the Ohio River. Beyond that stream there 
was less danger of pursuit and capture. He was an 
indifferent swimmer and had thought to float across on a 
log. But, by great good fortune, he found an Indian 
canoe hidden under some bushes. 

Once across, he dared to stop to rest and to eat. His 
food was gone, so he shot and roasted a wild turkey. 
At the end of the fourth day he reached Boonesborough. 
All were overjoyed to see him, for he had been given up 
as dead. 

Daniel was distressed to find that Boonesborough was 
far from ready for a siege. The palisades were not even 
completed, for the men had preferred to labor upon 
their farms. But with the arrival of Daniel Boone 
and his grim and certain tidings, all hastened to the fort. 
The sixty men worked bravely, and soon the paHsades 
were completed, the blockhouses strengthened, the 
stores of pro\dsions and water secured, and everything 
was in readiness for the advent of the savages. 

They came, four hundred strong, and mth them were 
forty French Canadians, all under the command of 
Black Fish, who wept in a heartbroken fashion o\xr the 
treachery of his dear son, Big Turtle. By flattery, 
Boone's adopted father tried to lure him from the 



144 



DANIEL BOONE 



fort just to shake 
hands with his 
Indian brothers ! 
But Boone was 
well aware of their 
cunning and did 
not fall into the 
snare. Then a 
stubborn siege 
began. Every 
feint known to the 
red man was tried. 
Efforts were made 
to fire the roofs 
of the fort ; at- 
tempts were made 
to tunnel into it 
from the river bank. Each of these undertakings was 
foiled. The savages used an enormous amount of 
powder and shot. Over one hundred pounds of bullets 
were gathered up after they had gone. For go they 
did, at the end of ten days. They had made the 
severest attack ever known in Kentucky, and, being 
defeated, they gave up the idea of ever taking Boones- 
borough. The town was little molested after its great 
siege of 1778. 

As explorer, fighter, surveyor, and land pilot, 
Boone's services to Kentucky were incalculable. It 




" Boone was aware of their cunning 



KENTUCKY PIONEER 



145 



is sad to think that he lost all his lands in Kentucky 
through neglecting to have his claims properly recorded. 
But the brave, sweet-natured man of sixty-four went 




The attack on Boone sborough. 



to seek better fortune in the lands beyond the Missis- 
sippi. Here, where game was plentiful, he enjoyed the 
free life of the backwoodsman, and his old age was a 
happy one. 



COE M. — 10 



LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI 

Within the American continent is a tumbled, tawny- 
brown river, full of dangerous currents and eddies. 
Often it seems lost amid its islands and mud banks. 
Lofty bluffs form the shores of the upper river. Some- 
times these bluffs are cut through by the action of the 
swift, strong currents. Such is the Mississippi, "the 
Father of Running Waters," as the Indians named it. 

At first the river was held by the French. They had 
estabhshed New Orleans at the river's mouth ; they 
had dotted its shores with fur stations, or trading posts, 
hundreds of miles apart. The village of St. Louis was 
a French settlement. Then, by the treaty of 1763, 
New Orleans and all the west shore of the Mississippi 
passed into Spanish hands. 

Meanwhile, a new nation was appearing in the Mis- 
sissippi valley. The Americans struggled across the 
Allegheny Mountains, drifted down the Ohio River on 
rafts, and began to build their log cabins on the rich 
soil near the great river. What patience, courage, and 
endurance these pioneers showed ! With a rifle and a 
little corn meal in a bag they explored the pathless 
forests. Cold did not daunt them. Whenever the 
need came, they could quickly make shelters, or even 

146 



IN PIONEER DAYS 



147 



forts, of logs. More and more the Americans pressed 
on to the fertile lands beyond the mountains. The 
tide could not be stemmed. 

The wealth of the Mississippi valley was not in furs, 
although the fur trader was first upon the spot. The 
plodding farmer, with his crops of corn, wheat, and 




" They struggled across the mountains." 

tobacco, his bacon, hides, and tallow, found the truer 
path to the resources of the great valley. Soon he 
had raised more than was needed to supply the wants 
of his family. A market must be sought. 

East of the mountain barriers, cities on the Atlantic 
seaboard paid three and even four times the price for 
farm products that was paid in Kentucky and Ohio. It 
was impossible to haul the produce over the mountains, 



148 



LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI 



for the expense of carriage was so great as to eat up all 
the profits. The cheaper plan was to send all the way 
by water. Boats could descend the Mississippi to 
New Orleans, whence their cargoes could be reshipped 
to the Atlantic coast. 

The first boats upon the river had been canoes, or 
pirogues. Now appeared a new type of craft in the 



^Mmmk^MHM^i' i 



mmmmw. 



t'r 




^o 




A flat-bottomed boat on the Mississippi. 

''flat-bottomed" boat. These boats were sometimes 
forty feet long and twelve feet wide. They had a 
flat bottom and square corners and were steered by a 
long sweep at the stern. They were cheaply built 
and were often sold as timber at the end of the voyage, 
or built into houses or shops. Sometimes they had 
keels and a rude steering rudder. Some of the keel 
boats had cabins with stone fireplaces and bunks. 



IN PIONEER DAYS 149 

Cargoes varied. Sometimes a boat carried priceless 
furs alone. Again, the goods would be miscellaneous 
in character, — flour, corn, hay, flax, tobacco, dried 
beef, bacon, hides, tallow, and salt. 

The journey was long and tedious. Weeks passed 
in the trip down the river, and months, in the return. 
In the latter case the boats must be poled back against 
the strong current, and that required the utmost cau- 
tion and skill. The descent of the river had its very 
dangerous passages also. 

The most favorable season for the trip was between 
February and May. Then the Mississippi was at 
flood. The pilots used to cross from one concave shore 
to the other to insure safety. When they were in 
doubt as to the channel, they trusted to the current. 

The boatmen were powerful and often lawless. 
Many of them were Frenchmen. They wore rough 
shirts and gay-colored worsted belts, which made them 
look very picturesque. 

Many were the dangers of the Mississippi. There 
were the perilous rapids, sandbars, and shoals. There 
were the huge trees floating southward from their 
forest homes in the far north. There were the sudden 
storms when the river became a furious sea with its 
waves whipped into foam by the angr>^ winds. 

Other perils came from man, — from the lawless 
Americans or from Spaniards at Natchez or New 
Orleans. At Natchez Spanish custom-house officers 



I50 LIFE ON THE MISSISSIPPI 

examined every American boatload of goods. Tolls 
were exacted, and often there were serious delays and 
annoyances of various kinds. 

Arrived in New Orleans, the cargoes were either sold 
or reshipped to Havana or to the Atlantic coast cities. 
Frontier traders sometimes exchanged their farm prod- 
ucts for horses, cattle, or negro slaves. These, by 
slow stages, returned overland to Kentucky and the 
other western states. 

The fact that the Spaniards held the mouth of the 
great waterway was a serious menace to the growth of 
American commerce west of the Alleghenies. For 
years there was complaint and unrest. Once the Span- 
iards closed New Orleans to American trade. The out- 
burst of anger was so great that, a year later, Spain 
withdrew the obnoxious law. However, it was not 
until the purchase of Louisiana, in 1803, that the states 
in the making on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers were 
free to expand to their full measure. 



NOLICHUCKY JACK OF TENNESSEE 



Kentucky and Tennessee were alike in two respects. 
Each formed the frontier of an older state, and each 
was used as a hunting ground by Indian tribes. 
North Carolina 
was the parent 
of Tennessee, as 
Virginia was of 
Kentucky. We 
have just read 
of the valiant 
struggle of the 
settlers to main- 
tain themselves 
on ''the dark 
and bloody ground" of Kentucky. The story of Ten- 
nessee is a similar one, with John Sevier as the hero in 
place of Daniel Boone. 

In 1769 James Robertson with other pioneers set 
out to explore eastern Tennessee. The noble rivers, 
the fair plains, and the soaring hills pleased them all, 
and they built their rude homes near the Watauga 
River, Three years later Sevier left his home in Vir- 
ginia to visit the settlement. So charmed was he with 




>p 



A frontier settlement. 



151 



152 



JOHN SEVIER 




/^^'"'^^ "^ ^ his first sight of the country that he 
\ soon brought his family to the 

mountain region. Many other 
famihes from Virginia and 
North CaroHna flocked to Ten- 
nessee, so that in a short time 
the white man was no stranger 
, in those mountain valleys. 
||\ vH!^-^ ^ Meanwhile, eastward of the 
Allegheny Mountains, the tides of 
warfare were ebbing and flowing. In 1776, the English 
sent agents among the Indian tribes of Tennessee to 
bribe them with trinkets to fall upon the frontier 
settlements. 

On July 2ist, 1776, a band of several hundred Indians 
approached to attack the fort at Watauga. It was 
defended by forty men commanded by Captain Robert- 
son and Lieutenant Sevier. It was early morning. 
Some women were outside the fort milking the cows, 
when the Indians burst upon them. They ran shriek- 
ing to the gateway of the fort. One beautiful girl was 
cut off by the enemy, but she was as fleet of foot as a 
young deer, and she did not give up hope. With her 
dark hair streaming like a flag behind her, she ran 
around the fort to a protected part of the stockade. 
With a cry for help she gave one tremendous spring 
and caught the top of the palisades. Lieutenant 
Sevier had heard her screams, and he also sprang to the 



NOLICHUCKY JACK OF TENNESSEE 



153 



top of the palisades within the fort. With ready 
weapon he shot down the pursuer and, at the next 
moment, helped the young girl over the well-nigh fatal 
barrier. Spent with her terrible fright and great 
exertion, she fell almost lifeless into his arms. 

A hot fight was maintained for a short time, and then 
the Indians withdrew. It was thought wise to attack 
their settlements promptly, and Sevier rendered most 
useful service as a scout, for he was an expert woods- 
man as well as a superb Indian fighter. 

Woodsmen are trained to see in the forest many 
things for which you and I would never even dream of 
looking. Sevier could tell whether an upturned stone 
had been disturbed by the foot of man or beast. He 
could tell the points of the compass by the bark on 
trees; he could throw a tomahawk; and 
he could mimic the cries of birds and ani- 
mals. Also he could distinguish between 
such cries made by the creatures 
themselves and those made by In- 
dians. It was a clever device of 
the Indian to mimic the gobble 
of the wild turkey near a set- 
tler's cabin. When the col- 
onist crept out with his gun 
to secure a choice dinner for his 
family, he was shot or clubbed 
by his crafty foe. 




154 JOHN SEVIER 

As an Indian fighter, Se\der was renowned. His 
method was always to attack first. With a handful of 
followers he would hurl himself like a thunderbolt into 
an Indian camp, never stopping beforehand to count 
the number of his foes. The sudden attack accom- 
plished wonders. Often the savages ran away on the 
spot. Then he would burn their villages and destroy 
their cornfields. His Indian war cry was: ''Here 
they are ! Come on, boys ! come on!'' 

Sevier was a fine, strong man, with features not unlike 
those of George Washington. He had fair hair and 
keen blue eyes. His honesty, his fearlessness, and, 
above all, his charm of manner won the hearts of his 
countrymen. "Nolichucky Jack" was his nickname in 
Tennessee, Nolichucky being the name of the river that 
flowed near his home. 

One battle that Sevier fought was of national im- 
portance. This was the battle of Kings Mountain. 
It was the year 1780, and a dark time for the American 
cause. There was practically no American army in the 
South. It would seem as though the British and their 
Indian allies were to sweep the field. But no, there 
were the backwoodsmen to be reckoned wdth, — the 
rear guard of the Revolution. When all else had failed, 
they would take a hand in the game. 

The men of eastern Tennessee met at Sycamore 
Shoals. Every lad able to carry a rifle followed his 
elders. Only the old men and very young boys were 



NOLICHUCKY JACK OF TENNESSEE 155 

to remain behind to protect the settlements from the 
Indians. There was grave danger, but the stout- 
hearted frontier women cheered on their husbands and 
sons. Were they not going forth to strike a blow for 
Liberty ? 

Se\der's party looked more like a company of hunters 
than like soldiers. They wore hunting shirts of deer- 
skin, and each man had fastened in his cap a sprig of 
hemlock. 

The British leader whom they planned to attack was 
Major Ferguson, one of Cornwallis's most trusted 
officers . He had twelve hundred men and had been 
harrowing the Carolinas. Sevier's company joined 
parties from Virginia and North Carolina until their 
number reached over one thousand. 

For days they followed Ferguson, making very rapid 
marches. In time that keen officer realized the pursuit 
and halted his troops in a wonderfully strong position. 
This was upon the top of Kings Mountain. The 
northern side was a steep precipice ; the other three 
sides formed exceedingly abrupt approaches. Fergu- 
son was delighted as he looked around. His safety 
seemed perfect, and he cried: ''Well, boys, here is 
a place from which all the rebels in the country cannot 
drive us !" 

But he did not know the mettle of the backwoodsmen, 
and of their leaders, Williams, Campbell, Shelby, and 
Sevier. They laid careful plans, and at three o'clock of 



156 



JOHN SEVIER 



the afternoon of October 7th, 1780, they began steadily, 
though cautiously, to advance upon the enemy from 
three sides. 

In time Ferguson saw the party coming up the 
southern slope and hurried forward to engage them. 
The Americans hesitated and then fell back. The 




Battle of Kings Mountain. 

British pressed after them. In a few moments Fer- 
guson's men were assailed from the east and the west. 
The party from the south, moreover, renewed the 
assault, and the English were thus in the midst of hot 
attack from three directions. The trees and scattered 
bowlders broke up the ground so that it was impossible 
to charge. The backwoodsmen, accustomed to fighting 
under precisely these conditions, were at strong ad- 
vantage. The brave Ferguson was shot dead in the 



NOLICHUCKY JACK OF TENNESSEE 157 

heat of action, and finally seven hundred of his 
men surrendered. Four hundred had been killed or 
wounded or had escaped. The Americans lost less 
than a hundred men. This battle of Kings Mountain 
was that turn in the tide of success that terminated the 
Revolutionary War with the seal of our independence. 

Later Sevier joined General Marion and did good 
service in the closing months of the war. The swift 
and sudden onslaught of the "Swamp Fox" must have 
just suited the mind of Sevier. 

He had his enemies, of course, as what strong man 
has not ? But when Tennessee became a state, 
Sevier was twice chosen governor. Other civil honors 
came to him, and he performed all these duties ably 
and faithfully. He was a true patriot and the servant 
of his state. 



GEORGE ROGERS CLARK, THE WASHINGTON 
OF THE OHIO VALLEY 

In recent chapters we have read of the defense of 
Kentucky and Tennessee by those whose homes were 
in daily peril from the fierce redskins. The EngHsh 
in Canada launched these painted furies upon the 
defenseless wives and children of the American pioneers. 
They gave their allies guns and sharp scalping knives 
and paid well for the scalps of the palefaces brought 
to Detroit. General Hamilton, the commander at 
Detroit, was known as the "hair buyer," all along 
the American frontier. 

Soon after the coming of George Rogers Clark to 
Kentucky a new plan of action was adopted. Clark 
said to himself: ''It is all very well to burn the Indian 
villages north of the Ohio, as Boone has done. But 
that is not enough. We should strike at the English 
and cripple them, if we can. They are, after all, 
responsible for most of this bloodshed." And so he 
laid his plans to carry the war into the enemy's country. 
Under his leadership was wrought one of the miracles 
of our western world, for "a handful of backwoodsmen 
won an empire by a splendid stroke of pure heroism." 

George Rogers Clark was a native of Virginia. When 



THE WASHINGTON OF THE OHIO VALLEY 159 



he was about twenty-five, he came into Kentucky as a 
surveyor. Month after month, with chain and com- 
pass, ax and rifle, he traversed the noble plains and 
forests of the wilderness until he knew well its trails 
and fords, its mountain passes and its native people. 

Do you remember another young surveyor who came 
into this very region 
some years before 
Clark ? He, too, was 
a George. I do not 
know whether the 
business of surveying 
enables a man to take 
long-distance views. 
But certainly Clark 
and Washington were 
alike in thinking 
"far, far thoughts." Clark was a man ''with empire 
in his brain." 

To the northwest of Kentucky stretched miles and 
miles of grassy prairie and rich timberland. From the 
Ohio they extended northward to the Great Lakes and 
westward to the Mississippi. All this land had once 
belonged to France, but, at the close of the French and 
Indian War, she had ceded it to England. The two 
most important settlements were Vincennes, on the 
Wabash River, and Kaskaskia, about two miles east of 
the Mississippi River, and fifty miles southeast of St. 




The Ohio valley. 



i6o GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 

Louis. The people of Vincennes and Kaskaskia were, 
of course, French. Now they were governed by the 
Enghsh. Were they loyal to the English, Clark asked 
himself. It did not seem likely. 

Spies to these distant parts reported, on their return, 
that the French rarely joined the Indians in their war 
parties, for they took little interest in the Revolutionary 
War. This news was satisfactory to Clark, and at once 
he set out for his native state of Virginia. There he 
held a long conference with the able governor, Patrick 
Henry. The elder man studied the younger carefully. 
He saw before him "sl man of picturesque and stately 
presence, like an old Norse viking, tall and massive, 
with ruddy cheeks, auburn hair, and piercing blue eyes 
sunk deep under thick yellow brows." "He'll win out, 
if any man can," thought the governor of Virginia. 
And so he backed Clark's enterprise with all the power 
of his high office. He gave him six thousand dollars, 
orders for supplies upon the Ohio posts, the rank of 
lieutenant colonel, and the power to recruit three hun- 
dred and fifty Virginians ''wherever he might find 
them." All this happened in January, 1778. 

Clark gathered his men slowly. It was not until late 
in May that he started down the Ohio River in flat- 
bottomed boats with a small force of one hundred and 
fifty men who did not even know what was to be asked 
of them. 

At the falls of the Ohio, where Louisville stands to- 



THE WASHINGTON OF THE OHIO VALLEY i6i 

day, the little party was increased by a number of 
volunteers from Kentucky. Then Clark at last re- 
vealed their destination. They were on their way to 
Kaskaskia to surprise the little French town. It was 
to be wrested from the English and added to the terri- 
tory of the united colonies. Nearly all of the party were 
full of enthusiasm and eager to follow their young leader. 

The usual route to Kaskaskia was by water, but 
Clark did not intend to go that way. The news of 
their coming would be rapidly carried to Kaskaskia, 
as this route was frequented by many scouts and 
Indians. Instead, Clark's party went but part of the 
distance by water and then proceeded overland through 
the dense woods and across the wide prairies that were 
like seas of grass. 

At twilight, on July 4th, 1778, Clark's band halted 
on the eastern shore of the Kaskaskia River. Across 
the water they beheld their goal, — the peaceful little 
French village with its small stone church, low-built 
houses, orchards, and gardens, and its fort over which 
floated the banner of England. Lights gleamed from 
the humble cottages ; suppers were cooking or were 
being served to the hght-hearted villagers. Only 
the distant barking of a dog broke the hush of the 
evening hour. 

The troops captured a ferryman and learned from 
him that their coming was a complete surprise. The 
prisoner ferried them across the river, and then one half 

COE M. — II 



l62 



GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 




Clark's men were ferried across to Kaskaskia. 



the force took possession of the town, while the re- 
mainder surrounded the fort. This stronghold was 
entered without a shot. It is said that the commander 
was asleep in his cabin. He was awakened to find both 
town and fort in the hands of the Americans. 

Clark at first acted with great sternness. The French 
must be overawed from the start. With all their 
boldness his men were but few in number ; they were 
in an enemy's country and far from reenforcements. 

On the capture of the town the villagers were ordered 



THE WASHINGTON OF THE OHIO VALLEY 163 

to keep within doors. The next day Clark announced 
that he would speak to them in the village church. 
The French gathered there in fear and trembling; 
they thought they were to be killed or sold as slaves. 

Clark then threw off his harsh looks and spoke to 
them with great kindness. He told them that the 
cause of the American colonies was a just one. To 
prove this he declared that their own king Louis of 
France had just allied himself with the Americans 
in making war upon the English. Clark further added 
that the Americans liberated them from the English 
and offered them the chance to become free American 
citizens. 

The French were overjoyed at this speech and gladly 
took the oath of allegiance to the American cause. 

George Rogers Clark had gained one warm friend in 
Kaskaskia. This was the village priest, Father Gibault. 
The good old man believed that Vincennes, the French 
post on the Wabash River, would become American 
as readily as had Kaskaskia before her. He offered to 
set out with one companion on this mission. 

He went, and all fell out as he had said. Vincennes 
listened and heeded the words of the good priest. She 
drove away the few English within her bounds, hauled 
down the red flag of England, and raised in its place 
the flag of the thirteen colonies. This good news 
Father Gibault brought Clark on the first of August. 

Clark had prospered in his undertaking, but his posi- 



1 64 GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 

tion in this western wilderness was most unsafe. The 
EngHsh would move against him as soon as the news 
of his success reached Detroit. Meanwhile, nearer than 
Detroit, there lay all around him, the dusky tribes 
of fierce and unfriendly Indians, and he had less than 
two hundred trustworthy men. He, however, sum- 
moned the Indians to a council, and by his wise words 
and dauntless bearing won the friendship of the forty 
tribes in the northwest country. 

Clark decided to winter in Kaskaskia, but his mind 
was not at ease. It was some time since he had heard 
from Vincennes, and he feared that the important little 
post might have been retaken by the English. As a 
matter of fact that was just what had occurred. 
General Hamilton himself, with a strong force, had come 
from Detroit over the waterways and portages to 
Vincennes. He had promptly captured the town, and 
the fickle French had again taken the oath to England. 

This news was brought by a friendly Spaniard, who 
added that General Hamilton intended to remain in 
Vincennes during the winter. In the spring he would 
march against Clark and Kaskaskia. He felt perfectly 
safe in Vincennes. The winter had set in with unusual 
rains ; the rivers were swollen torrents. "Only a navy 
can reach Vincennes," thought Hamilton. 

Clark pondered the situation. His force was too 
small to defeat Hamilton in a pitched battle ; he could 
win only by strategy. If the winter march of two 



THE WASHINGTON OF THE OHIO VALLEY 165 




Clark summoned the Indians to a council. 



hundred and thirty miles could be made, he might 
recapture Vincennes and take Hamilton prisoner. This 
he determined to attempt. 

On February 5th, 1779, one hundred and seventy men 
assembled to receive the blessing of Father Gibault. 
The old man gave it fervently. He beUeved in the 
American cause so strongly that he had lent Clark the 
savings of a lifetime. 

The men encamped the first night about five miles 
from Kaskaskia, and in the morning they began the 
long march. Clark's seasoned warriors were in the 



i66 GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 

party, but there were besides, French volunteers, 
farmers of Kaskaskia. How would these gay, light- 
hearted people meet the hardships before them ? 

^'In the misty rain that fell and fell, the prairies 
seemed to melt afar into a gray and cheerless ocean. 
The sodden grass was matted now and unkempt. Life- 
less lakes filled the depressions, and through them the 
troops waded mile after mile ankle deep." The hard- 
ships of the day, however, were forgotten at night. 
Huge camp fires were lighted ; steaks and haunches 
of venison and buffalo meat were cooked; and the 
warmth, the savory smells, and the good fellowship 
caused the men to forget the misery of a short hour 
since. After supper, stories were told, songs were 
sung, and jigs were danced to the scraping of the fiddle. 

To cover the miles, to bring his men to the spot 
where it was more difiicult to retreat than to go on, 
was Clark's aim. 

Rivers lay in their path, the Little Wabash and the 
Wabash. On the eastern shore of the Wabash stood 
Vincennes, their goal. 

When they reached the crumbling banks of the Little 
Wabash, they found that that pleasant stream had be- 
come a river five miles broad. Dismay filled the minds 
of Clark's men. How could the Wabash be crossed, 
if this fierce, wide torrent was the Little Wabash! 
Clark did not allow his men time to brood over such 
dark thoughts. He set one company to work at making 



THE WASHINGTON OF THE OHIO VALLEY 167 

a boat. With the rest of his Kttle company he played 
leapfrog and other games till they were warm and in 
good spirits. The idea that they were on a pleasure 
trip must be maintained. 

At length, by the slow means of ferrying and wading, 
the Little Wabash was passed. Some of the stronger 
men swam over with the pack ponies, but the stores 
and most of the men were taken over in the boat. 
There was a little drummer boy of about a dozen years 
in the company. He was a lad of high spirit or he 
would not have been there. He had been placed in 
the bow of the boat, but he suddenly cast himself and 
his drum overboard. Supported by the drum, he swam 
ashore, to the shouts and rough applause of the men. 

And now, once across the Little Wabash, there could 
be no return. All were committed to the undertaking. 
In these drowned lands little or no game was to be 
found. Often the men went supperless to bed and 
arose to find nothing for breakfast. Cold, wet, hun- 
gry, inexpressibly weary and footsore, — is it any 
wonder that some murmured against Clark and the 
government for which he fought ? 

But still Clark was undaunted, and his cheerful spirit 
was something at which to marvel. ^'Was there a 
stream to wade or swim, Clark enthusiastically shouted, 
' Come on ! ' and in he plunged. Was there a lack of 
food, 'I'm not hungry,' he cried. 'Help yourselves, 
men ! ' Had some poor soldier lost his blanket. 



i68 



GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 



'Mine is in my way,' said Clark. 'Take it; I'm glad 
to get rid of it!'" His men loved him and would 
die rather than fall short of his expectations. 

At the Wabash, pause was made for the building of 
canoes. The Wabash was then crossed, but, to the 

dismay of the men, more 
water lay between them 
and Vincennes. These 
were the flooded lowlands, 
the backwater of the river. 
That night a frost came, 
and in the morning the 
men found their wet hunt- 
ing shirts as stiff as boards. 
Some of the shirts were 
even frozen to the ground. 
To add to the discomfort, 
there was no breakfast. 

To hearten the men for 
their day's march Colonel 
Clark broke the ice, and 
taking some of the water 
in his hand, poured powder 
into it. This he rubbed 
over his face until he was as black as an Indian. Giv- 
ing a Shawnee warwhoop, he took a flying leap into the 
water. He crashed through the ice, the water coming 
up to his thighs. As had been agreed beforehand, he 




The drummer boy beat the advance. 



THE WASHINGTON OF THE OHIO VALLEY 169 

was preceded by a tall scout bearing the small drum- 
mer boy upon his shoulder. The child beat the charges 
and without a word the feeble little band followed. 

The next morning it was the same story of misery 
and heroic courage. But at this crisis an Indian 
canoe, paddled by two squaws, appeared. The boat, 
by happy chance, was laden with a quarter of a buffalo. 
This food the hungry men seized and cooked. The 
wholesome hot broth revived those who were near to 
death. Here was food, and they were nearly at their 
journey's end. They could count the houses in Vin- 
cennes from their present camping ground. 

Clark now sent a manifesto to the town. In this 
paper he told all those villagers who were friendly to 
the Americans to remain within doors. Any persons 
found in the streets would be looked upon as foes. 

When Clark had left Kaskaskia, twenty stands of 
colors had been given to him. His men had often 
wondered why he had brought them all along. They 
were now to learn his reason. Saplings were cut and 
the flags were fastened to the ends of these long, slender 
poles ; bearers were chosen and stationed a good dis- 
tance apart. Then Clark deployed his men behind 
the low hills near the town. The flags were seen, but 
not the men. The people of Vincennes counted the 
flags and trembled, for they thought a great army was 
upon them. 

Strangely enough the Enghsh in the fort did not 



lyo GEORGE ROGERS CLARK 

take alarm till hours after Clark's arrival was known 
in the town. Hamilton himself felt perfectly safe, for 
the whole Illinois region was flooded with the heavy 
winter rains. But the commander, as he lounged and 
played cards, failed to realize the new type of man that 
had arisen in the wilderness. It was a type of steel, 
a man ''who would not flag at any point short of tlie 
topmost possible strain." 

Thus the surprise was complete. It was not until 
the fort was surrounded and Clark's riflemen were 
shooting through the open gun ports that Hamilton 
realized his situation. 

It was only a matter of forty-eight hours before 
Hamilton surrendered himself and seventy-nine prison- 
ers of war. This was on February 25th, 1779. 

The consequences of Clark's enterprise were far- 
reaching. When peace came in 1783, the Americans 
were still holding the western posts of Kaskaskia and 
Vincennes. This made it possible for John Jay and 
Benjamin Franklin to make a strong claim for this 
western territory. England was loath to grant it ; 
France and Spain were none too friendly ; but the fact 
that the American nation had held these posts for years 
could not be gainsaid. A new nation needs room to 
grow ; if the treaty confined the Americans to the strip 
of territory east of the Allegheny Mountains, there 
would be constant quarreling with the English beyond 
the ranges. This was Franklin's argument, and it was 



THE WASHINGTON OF THE OHIO VALLEY 171 

a good one. Nevertheless, the potent argument was 
that the Americans were already in possession of the 
Ohio valley. Their claim was granted, and the bound- 
ary of the United States went from the Great Lakes on 
the north to the Mississippi River on the west. Clark 
had indeed given an empire to his country by ''a very 
shining and splendid feat of arms." 

The glory of Clark's winter campaign will never fade. 
"His military achievements, all conditions considered, 
are nowhere excelled in the proud annals of American 
heroism." 



IN OLD VINCENNES AND KASKASKIA 

In the early days of the eighteenth century the 
French traders, in their wanderings in the Mississippi 
valley, erected small log forts. These forts protected 
their wealth, — the rich skins secured from the Indian 
and the trinkets, weapons, blankets, and liquor with 
which they tempted him to make the exchange. When 
there were uprisings among the savages, the forts served 
as rallying points. Behind the heavy stockades the 
French sought safety. Vincennes and Kaskaskia were 
villages that had grown up around such frontier forts. 

The French always showed remarkable judgment in 
choosing sites for their trading posts. Vincennes on 
the Wabash River, a tributary of the Ohio, commanded 
both the Wabash and the lower Ohio rivers. Kaskaskia 
was situated on the small Kaskaskia River, about two 
miles from the Mississippi. With a few neighboring 
settlements it held the French center. On the north 
was Canada, on the south, Louisiana ; Kaskaskia was 
the link between. Kaskaskia was founded in 1700; 
Vincennes, a few years later. 

When Clark captured these posts in 1778, they had 
been in the hands of the British but a dozen years. The 
people were still French at heart. Most of them had 

172 



OLD VINCENNES AND KASKASKIA 



173 




Trading with the Indians. 



come into the wilderness from Canada and clung 
closely to their French speech, dress, and customs. 

Both Kaskaskia and Vincennes, it has been said, 
grew up near a fort. At Kaskaskia, the fort was within 
the village ; at Vincennes the fort was on a bluff over- 
looking the Wabash, just without the town. The 
frontier forts were usually of one kind. A rectangular 
piece of ground was inclosed by a palisade of upright 
logs. One or two sides of the fort were often formed 



174 OLD VINCENNES AND KASKASKIA 

by the backs of a row of log cabins, which served as 
quarters for the garrison. Within the fort there was 
a strong central blockhouse. At each corner stood 
another, generally two stories high and pierced with 
loopholes. If the fight went against the holders of the 
fort, the last struggle was waged about the block- 
houses, the places of final retreat. The fort was closed 
by a gate of heavy timbers with massive bolts and hinges. 

The French, however, were on far better terms with 
the Indians than were the English. For a hundred 
years it had been war to the knife between Englishmen 
and Indians. The French, on the other hand, had 
tried to teach the red men their religion and had man- 
aged to build up a wide and profitable fur trade. 
^'Eat frogs and save your scalp," was a frontier saying 
of the English, full of grim humor. 

The houses, the people, the daily tasks, the merry- 
makings were much the same in Kaskaskia as in Vin- 
cennes. To describe one village is to give a picture of 
the other also. So let us visit old Vincennes. 

It is a cold, bleak, winter's day. The ground is fro- 
zen, and a biting wind blows across the prairies bringing 
with it little flurries of snow. The houses stand along 
the street, as alike as beehives. They are cabins of logs 
with the low roofs either thatched or clapboarded. The 
chimneys are daubed with a gray stucco made of mud 
and lime. Most of the houses have verandas over which 
grapevines clamber, making a pleasant shade in summer. 



OLD VINCENNES AND KASKASKIA 



175 



Behind each house stretches a narrow, ribbonhke 
field. The field is narrow because the common ground 
of the village has been thus divided among the inhabit- 
ants. Just such "pipe-stem" farms may be seen 
to-day in Quebec. Close to the house stand the well- 
sweep and the orchard, in summer one white bloom of 
cherry, pear, and apple. 

The village has a large pasturing ground very care- 
fully fenced in, where the goats and the little black cows 
of the villagers browse the day long. The tiny mis- 
sion church of logs stands on a low rise of ground over- 
looking the marshlands. Here and there is a larger 
house surrounded by grounds kept up with much taste. 
Here dwell the. citizens who have been most successful 
in trade. 

Now and then an opening door reveals within the 
cabin a glorious wood fire leaping and roaring up the 
blackened throat of the chimney. Pots and kettles, 
banked around with glowing coals, stand on the broad 
hearthstone. Dishes are being prepared for supper 
in true French fashion. The savory odors, wafted 
through the doors, set all the dogs to whining a re- 
minder of their presence. 

Very scarce is the furniture, — rude cots, rough pine 
tables and chairs, earthenware bowls, and big horn 
spoons; but the spirit of hearty good cheer makes 
amends for all that is lacking. 

Who were the people that dwelt in these simple 




Street scene in old Vincennes. 
176 



OLD VINCENNES AND KASKASKIA 177 

cabins of the wilderness and went to and fro to fort, or 
church, or pasture through the streets of old Vincennes ? 

First, there were the traders and the farmers. These 
men belonged in Vincennes. They were its most sub- 
stantial citizens. The traders often acted as agents 
to more important merchants in far-away Montreal. 
They exchanged goods with the Indians and sometimes 
carried furs to be sold in Detroit. The small farmers 
raised corn, wheat, fruit, cattle, and hogs. These 
products they sometimes shipped down the Mississippi 
River to the New Orleans market. 

Beside the traders and the farmers, there was what 
might be called the floating population, consisting of 
the voyageurs, or boatmen, and the coureiirs de bois, or 
woodrangers. These men were here one day and gone 
the next. The voyageurs paddled the canoes ; they 
carried canoe and cargo over the portages, as each was 
reached; they transported packs of furs and other 
goods through the forests ; they guarded their employer 
and his property often with their lives. They earned 
but a trifle, but were the gayest of the gay. At the 
oar they sang their musical French boating songs. 
They also knew how to enjoy their earnings ; a day 
or two in town was enough to disperse it all ! The 
coureurs de hois were the most daring men of the great 
Northwest. Such tales as they could tell of crossing un- 
known rivers, of climbing nameless di\ddes, and of fight- 
ing with savage beasts and still more savage man ! 

COE M. 12 



178 OLD VINCENNES AND KASKASKIA 

Two very important persons in the village were the 
priest and the notary, or judge. The priest was like 
a father to his people. He shared the joys and sor- 
rows of all. Such was his influence over even the most 
careless that many were the offerings of wild squirrels 
and turkeys brought to his door by bronzed coureurs 
de hois. 

As for the notary, he was seldom idle. The French 
rarely settled disputes by blows; they went to court 
instead. Even in small matters, they delighted to be 
guided by the law. 

The people of Vincennes and Kaskaskia loved gay 
little gatherings. Nearly every night there was a 
dance in the barn of one of the villagers. If the night 
were cold and more guests came than could enter the 
house, great cheerful fires were built outside. The 
fiddler sat enthroned on a table or upon a stool in a 
sheltered corner of the room. With legs crossed, 
hands flying, and head beating time to the lively reel, 
he made a delightful picture. The young people 
danced, regardless of the roughness of the puncheon 
floor. The elders smoked, listened to the music, or 
discussed the village gossip. From one group to an- 
other the priest moved quietly, welcomed everywhere 
and treated by all with the finest respect. Surely 
these good old days were happy ones, full of peace and 
content, of childlike faith and open-hearted hospitality ! 



GEORGE WASHINGTON, OUR FIRST 
PRESIDENT 

In an earlier chapter you read of a most important 
state paper called the Declaration of Independence. 
Our country has another great document. This is the 
Constitution. In it are set forth the laws by which 
the affairs of the United States are regulated. Year 
after year the government rolls along smoothly and 
well because of the excellence of this Constitution. 

But over a hundred years ago there was a time when 
the country was sadly perplexed and troubled. This 
was just after the close of the American Revolution. 
We had won our freedom, but we did not know how we 
should use it. What rulers should we have ? What 
laws should we make ? The states disagreed among 
themselves ; the people were as sheep having no shep- 
herd. There were plenty of laws, but no laws for the 
whole country ; there was no federal Constitution. 

These dark times lasted for several years. At last 
a number of able men from the different colonies 
gathered together to frame a government. Here were 
Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madi- 
son, and, best of all, George Washington. What they 
prepared was the Constitution. 

179 



i8o 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 



Before these new laws could be enforced, the people 
must agree to them. They must vote for the Con- 
stitution. It was a question whether they would or 
not. There were laws set down in this paper that 




Able men gathered to frame a government. 



the 



were far from pleasing to certain sections of 
country. 

Washington had been the presiding ofHcer at the 
convention. He had studied with great care the mak- 
ing of the paper from day to day. He came to believe 
in it with all his heart. He said this to others ; he 



OUR FIRST PRESIDENT i8i 

wrote it to friends and acquaintances. People far 
and wide began to say, "What is good enough for 
George Washington is good enough for me ! What 
he beHeves in, I do too !" Thus it came to pass that 
the people finally voted to adopt the Constitution. 

One of the new laws was that the United States was 
to be ruled over by a President. There was one man 
especially fitted for that honor, — George Washington. 
"If he guides us, all will be well," said the people. 

As they thought, they voted. And so the election 
of Washington was unanimous. This was on the 
sixth of April, 1789. 

Washington received the news gravely, even sadly. 
He dearly loved his home ; he had given the best years 
of his manhood to his country and he longed to be left 
in peace. But there was one voice to which Washing- 
ton had never turned a deaf ear. This was the voice 
of duty. And now, clear and unmistakable, he heard 
its call. Once more he was to serve the American 
people, but now he was to be ruler instead of general. 

On April i6th he started upon his journey to New 
York, then the capital of the country. Washing- 
ton was now widely known and deeply loved. His 
passing was the great event of the year, nay of a life- 
time. So busy men left the plow, the forge, the shop, 
the bench ; women left their washing, their weaving, 
their sewing; children left their play. All gathered 
by the wayside to catch one glimpse of the great man. 



I»2 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 



As they saw his noble head and calm face, all felt a new 
sense of the fitness of the man for the presidency. 
So they cheered and blessed him as he passed, and went 
home with hearts at peace. 

If it was good for them to see Washington, it was 
also good for Washington to see them, for he carried 
a heavy heart. He knew himself to be a soldier. 
But could a soldier succeed as a ruler ? He knew that 
he should do his level best, as always. But would 
that best satisfy his people ? These were the thoughts 
beating time to the cantering of his horse's hoofs on 
the road. So the shouts, the smiles, and the blessings 
along the way, cheered the good man hastening to his 
new task. 

Washington was to take the oath of office on April 
30th, 1789. ''It was one of those magnificent days 
of clearest sunshine that sometimes makes one feel in 
April as if summer had come." At nine in the morn- 
ing there were services in all the churches. With full 
hearts the people asked for the blessing of God upon 
the new government and the new President. 

At twelve o'clock the city troops paraded before 
Washington's door. The procession was formed and 
started promptly at half past. First came the soldiers, 
horse and foot ; then the carriages in which were seated 
important men under the new government ; next came 
Washington in a state coach ; then came the foreign 
ministers ; and lastly a long train of citizens. 



OUR FIRST PRESIDENT 



183 



All were going to Federal Hall, on the corner of 
Wall and Nassau streets. The streets through which 
the procession passed were lined with citizens ; the open 
windows were crowded with gazers; the porches, even 
the housetops, held eager watchers. What hearty 




On the way to Federal Hall. 

cheers rang out as the coach, bearing the quiet, stately 
figure came in sight ! 

Washington realized at all times the importance of 
appropriate dress. To-day he wore a suit of dark 
brown cloth with metal buttons decorated with eagles. 
At his side hung a dress sword. His hair was powdered 
and clubbed in the fashion of his time, while white 
silk stockings and silver shoe buckles completed his 
costume. 

At Federal Hall all alighted and entered the Senate 
Chamber. Here were gathered the Senate and the 



i84 



GEORGE WASHINGTON 



House of Representatives, the men who were to make 
the laws of the country. Here was also John Adams, 
the Vice President. He met Washington and conducted 

him to a chair of 
state. There was 
silence for a short 
time. Then John 
Adams arose and 
informed Washing- 
ton that all was 
prepared for him 
to take the oath 
of ofhce. 

There was a deep 
balcony with pil- 
lars and iron rail- 
ings on the second 
story of Federal 
Hall. Attended 
by John Adams, 
Governor Clinton, 
Alexander Hamil- 
ton, and a few 




Washington taking tlie oath of office. 



others, Washington stepped into this balcony. There 
stood a table covered with a crimson velvet cloth. 
Upon it lay a crimson velvet cushion and a Bible. 

At sight of the President elect the crowd again broke 
into cheers, and hundreds of cocked hats were waved. 



OUR FIRST PRESIDENT 185 

Washington, deeply moved, walked to the railing and 
bowed to the people with his hand on his heart. Then 
he seated himself in the large armchair near the table. 
There was profound silence for a brief time. Then 
Washington arose. Before him stood Robert R. 
Livingston, Chancellor of State. Near by was the 
Secretary of the Senate, holding the Bible upon its 
velvet cushion. Washington placed his hand upon 
the Bible, while Livingston read the oath in impressive 
tones. ''Do you solemnly swear," asked Livingston, 
''that you will faithfully execute the office of President 
of the United States, and will, to the best of your 
ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution 
of the United States ? " 

Washington replied, most reverently, " I swear, — 
so help me, God." He then bent and kissed the Bible 
as the seal of his pledge. The simple ceremony was 
over. 

Livingston stepped to the railing, waved his hand, 
and shouted "Long live George Washington, President 
of the United States!" The crowd below repeated 
his cry with wild enthusiasm. At that moment a 
flag appeared on the cupola of the hall. This was the 
signal for cannons to thunder forth salutes and for 
bells throughout the city to peal forth joyously. Thus 
was George Washington made first President of the 
United States. 



HOW A CAPITAL CITY WAS CHOSEN 

If a man has a beautiful painting, he places it in a 
beautiful frame ; if he owns a noble statue, he sees 
that it is mounted upon a fitting pedestal. If you have 
anything that is great and beautiful, you endeavor to 
have its surroundings fitting. That was exactly the 
idea of the framers of the Constitution. They said 
to each other: "We have made a new government. 
We believe it to be noble, generous, and worthy. But 
to help the nations of the world and our own people 
realize its greatness the sooner, we must build a new 
city for our government. The cities we already have, 
devoted to trade or manufactures, with streets full of 
shops and water fronts edged with wharves and ship- 
pings, will not answer. The important buildings in our 
new city must be a capitol, where the Senate and the 
House of Representatives may meet to make the laws ; 
a mansion for our President ; a library ; and many stately 
offices in which the work of the nation will be carried on." 

Soon after Washington became President, the ques- 
tion arose as to the location of the capital. The 
northern states wished to have it placed within their 
territory ; so did the southern states. Heated dis- 
cussions arose, and, in time, feeling became very bitter. 

i86 



HOW A CAPITAL CITY WAS CHOSEN 187 

Another matter was being hotly discussed at the 
same time. This was whether the United States 
government should pay the debts that each state had 
contracted during the Revolution. The southern 
states, especially Virginia, were opposed to this plan. 
Their debts had either been paid or been largely re- 
duced by themselves. The northern states, on the 
contrary, favored the measure. 

x\lexander Hamilton had been made Secretary of the 
Treasury by Washington. He was very anxious to 
have the government assume the debts of the indi- 
vidual states. He rightly thought that it would make 
the new nation respected abroad and at home. It 
would tend to strengthen the Union. Finally the 
thought came to him that a compromise might be made. 
If a few southern legislators could be induced to vote 
for the assumption of the state debts, a few northern 
men would vote to locate the capital at the South. 

The vote passed as Hamilton wished. The govern- 
ment took upon itself the state debts amounting to 
$21,500,000, and the South secured the capital. The 
bill stated that the new city was to be erected upon the 
Potomac River. The choice of site was left to Wash- 
ington and to commissioners to be appointed by him. 

When Washington was a young surveyor forty years 
before, there had been a spot on the Potomac River 
that he had often admired. It had seemed to him 
a place marked for the site of a fair city. It was a few 



i88 WASHINGTON 

miles north of Mount Vernon, on the Maryland side 
of the river. This was the place iinally chosen, on July 
24th, 1791. 

In September, 1791, the commissioners gave the new 
city the name of our first President, Washington. 

Work was begun promptly. In 1792 the home for 
the President was started, while in the following year 



^F% 



The capitol in 1825. 

President Washington himself laid the corner stone 
of the capitol. 

The streets of Washington run due north and south 
or east and west. In that respect the city is like Phil- 
adelphia. Washington, however, differs from Phila- 
delphia in having noble avenues radiating from the 
capitol, from the President's house, and from other 
centers of like importance. The early engineers were 
far-sighted in insisting upon avenues one hundred and 
sixty feet in width. Squares, parks, and open places 
were equally spacious. 

On November 17th, 1800, Congress met for the first 
time in Washington. The members were far from 



HOW A CAPITAL CITY WAS CHOSEN 



189 



satisfied with the city. Only one wing of the capitol 
was finished. The streets ran through bits of forest 
or lost themselves in the open fields. There were not 
proper abodes for the congressmen, many of whom were 
obliged to seek boarding places in Georgetown, the 
nearest city. 

Washington was called, half jestingly, ^'a city of 
magnificent distances." For decades it remained a city 
of magnificent promises. It was not until after the 
Civil War that it became finished, and stately, and 
beautiful. 

To-day, North and South, East and West, we are all 
proud of it. It is one of the noblest capitals of the 
world. It is what Washington and the other founders 
of our nation dreamed it might become. 




The capitol to-day. 



HOW ELI WHITNEY INVENTED THE 
COTTON GIN 

'' There is hardly another instance in history where it is so 
easy to trace, in a very few years, results so tremendous fol- 
lowing from a single invention by a single man." 

— Edward Everett Hale. 

It is always interesting to see any one showing, 
when a boy, the qualities that lead to his future great- 
ness as a man. Such a youth was Eli Whitney, the 
son of a Massachusetts farmer. Whitney was a 
mechanical genius. He loved to use tools, and to 
discover the laws of machines. There are many stories 
told of his ingenuity. 

One bright Sunday morning the whole family were 
about to start for the meeting-house. Eli discovered 
that his father intended leaving his watch at home. 
For a long time the boy had coveted the chance of 
studying the workings of that watch. The opportunity 
was too good a one to be lost. So he begged permis- 
sion to remain at home and, after the family had gone, 
he took the watch entirely apart. 

It was not until every^ wheel, screw, and bright piece 
of metal lay before him that he thought of the con- 
sequences of what he had done. Was his father's 

190 



THE COTTON GIN 



191 



watch a wreck ? Could he ever put it to rights again ? 
Desperately he set to work, and soon the watch ap- 
peared as good as ever. Mr. Whitney never knew what 
had happened until his son told him of his misdeed 
many years after. 

This is only one of many stories that might be told 
of that clever farmer's 



boy. He made nails, 
bonnet pins, and walk- 
ing sticks. He even 
made a fiddle. Many 
things that were too 
difficult or delicate for 
their owners to repair 
were brought to Eli 
Whitney. 

At nineteen Eli de- 
cided that he needed a 
college education. To 
carry out his purpose he earned money during the next 
few years in any way that presented itself. Sometimes 
he taught school ; sometimes he was busy with tools, 
making or mending with his rare skill. 

In May, 1789, at the age of twenty-four, he was able 
to enter Yale College. Even here he found an op- 
portunity of turning his mechanical gift to account. 
One day a professor expressed regret at being unable 
to perform a certain experiment before the class. The 




Eli at work on his father's watch. 



192 



ELI WHITNEY 



necessary apparatus was broken, and must be sent to 
Europe for repairs. Whitney asked to examine it 
and soon delighted the professor by making it as good 
as new. 

After he was graduated, he accepted a position to 
teach in the family of a Georgia planter. He journeyed 
to the South but found, to his dismay, that his post was 
already filled. Here he was, in an unknown state, 
alone, poor, and far from home. One friend, however, 
he had, and she was fortunately near at hand. This 
was Mrs. Greene, widow of General Nathanael Greene. 

On hearing of his disappointment, Mrs. Greene sent 
for him and said : " You wish to study law. Very well, 
you can study in my home. Your room is your castle, 
— you are most welcome." 

For this southern hospitality the forlorn young 
man was most grateful. He lost no opportunity 
of proving his appreciation of Mrs. Greene's kindness. 
Hearing his hostess complain that her embroidery 
frame tore the delicate threads of her work, Whitney 
promptly made another that gave perfect satisfaction. 
Because of this act and because of the ease and neatness 
with which he mended broken toys for the children, 
Mrs. Greene came to have a high opinion of Whitney's 
dexterity. 

One day a group of distinguished men came to visit 
the house. They were soldiers who had been officers 
under her late husband. General Greene. The con- 



THE COTTON GIN 



193 



versation turned upon cotton. One and all, these men 
declared that if a way could be found of rapidly separat- 
ing the cotton seeds from the cotton, they all would 
grow wealthy. 

Have you ever examined the cotton boll ? The silky 
white cotton bursting out from between the scaly, dead- 
brown leaves, is very beautiful to look 
at. If you examine the cotton more 
closely, you will find 
seeds scattered through 
the fleecy mass. Try 
to separate a seed from 
the cotton fiber. It 
clings like grim death. 
The apparently small 
task takes time. No 
cotton can be made 
into cloth until after it 
has been cleaned from 
the seed. 
In 1793 it took a 
man a whole day to prepare a pound of cotton for the 
mill. Because this process was so slow, very little could 
be made of cotton as a product. 

Mrs. Greene's guests knew that the rich, moist low- 
lands of the South with their genial sunshiny weather 
were adapted to raising mammoth crops of cotton. 
Thus it was that they exclaimed as one man : "If we 




%m^ 



A cotton plant. 



COE M. — 13 



194 



ELI WHITNEY 



only had a machine to do what now has to be done by 
hand ! 'Such an article would make us all rich men." 

''You must meet Mr. Whitney," exclaimed Mrs. 
Greene. "Perhaps he can help you. He can do any- 
thing ! Only see this embroidery frame that he made 
for me !" 

Thus warmly recommended, Whitney was summoned 
to the discussion. Soon after, he began experimenting. 

Success crowned his efforts. In time he called his 
kind friend, Mrs. Greene, to see what he had done. 
The cotton gin was found to do the work of one thousand 
people. It could ''gin" one thousand pounds in a day. 

Once more Mrs. Greene gathered her friends to show 
them the marvelous labor-saving machine. They 
saw, and wondered, and went away to spread the amaz- 
ing news. They knew that they had looked upon a 
great achievement, but no one realized the tremendous 
industrial revolution that was even then at their doors. 

And now a serious disaster occurred. Whitney's 
workshop was broken into and the precious model was 
stolen. It was a serious blow, but Whitney did not 
despair. He at once hurried north to forestall others 
from obtaining his patent rights. 

He secured a patent, but it never brought him the 
great wealth that it should have done. The southern 
states evaded his just claims ; southern planters grew 
rich at his expense ; even the courts broke their agree- 
ments and declared judgment against him. 



THE COTTON GIN 



195 



Eli Whitney did make a fortune, but not through the 
cotton gin. During the War of 181 2 he manufactured 
rifles, and this enterprise was a success financially. 




An early cotton gin. 

He died in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1825, at the 
age of sixty. As Dr. Hale said in the quotation at the 
head of this chapter, rarely have results so tremendous 
followed upon a single invention. Let us see exactly 
what the results were. 

Up to 1793 there was practically no cotton indus- 
try. The chief crops were tobacco, rice, and indigo. 
With the appearance of the cotton gin, however, all 
these conditions were rapidly altered. Great areas 
of rich, moist lands were planted with cotton ; great 
harvests were gathered under the warm southern sun ; 
and great quantities of the fleecy wool were passed 



196 ELI WHITNEY 

through the cotton gin and hurried to the mills at 
the North to be made into cloth. Formerly every one 
wore wool for clothing ; now they began to wear cotton, 
because it was so cheap. In time a yard of calico cost 
but four cents. The South almost immediately began 
to compete with India and Egypt in supplying the world 
with cotton. 

Cotton manufactories flourished at the North and 
later in England. "Cotton is king" was the cry of 
the age, for "the spindles of both Old and New Eng- 
land waited on the bursting of the cotton bolls." 

All this must seem to you a happy and prosperous 
state of affairs. But there is another side that is dark 
and foreboding. This is the influence of the cotton 
gin upon slavery. White men could not endure work in 
the low, moist fields under the hot sun. Consequently 
the labor of planting and harvesting was done by 
the negro. It was thought that the indolent black 
would not work unless he were a slave. Therefore 
slavery was looked upon, after the invention of the 
cotton gin, as desirable and necessary. 

Before 1793 slavery had been dying out. The wisest 
men at the South, men Hke Washington and Jefferson, 
considered it a great e\dl. Still they thought the slaves 
would gradually be set free. The cotton gin altered 
this happy prospect. 

Slaves, slaves, slaves, was the cry. Here are these 
broad acres to be tilled, and we have not enough 



THE COTTON GIN 197 

"hands." So ships were hurried to Africa, and hun- 
dreds of blacks were brought to America to toil in the 
unhealthy cotton fields. The Constitution had for- 
bidden any importation of slaves after 1808. But in 
the fifteen years between 1793 and 1808 the slave 
traders were exceedingly active. 

Thus the great evil of slavery was fastened upon our 
country by the invention of the young New England 
teacher. Cotton planters at the South, cotton mill 
owners at the North, cotton spinners in England, all 
wished to keep the negro in slavery. It meant much 
money to them, and they shut their eyes to the ques- 
tion of right and wrong. The Ci\dl War wiped out 
the great evil, but for over sixty years the canker was 
growing deep into the body politic. 

Good and evil were wrapped together in the gift of 
Eli Whitney to his nation. 



THE PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA 

England is a great world power. It is said that 
the sun never sets on the EngHsh flag. This means 
that, if we could travel with the sun for twenty-four 
hours, always there would be in sight the scarlet flag 
fluttering in the bright sunlight above some island of 
the sea, some dark and nameless jungle, some sandy 
desert, or some rocky cliff claimed and ruled by England. 

The United States is, to-day, a world power. Now 
that our flag flies over the Philippines, it might almost 
be said that the sun never sets on the Stars and Stripes. 
We were once but a narrow strip of thirteen states on 
the Atlantic seaboard. Now our country stretches 
from ocean to ocean across the broad continent. How 
did our territory expand ? 

The first expansionist was George Rogers Clark, 
the man with ''empire in his brain." As you know, 
he made such conquests in the region between the 
Allegheny Mountains and the Ohio and the Mississippi 
rivers that England ceded to us the rich and beautiful 
Northwest Territory. 

The second great expansionist was Thomas Jeffer- 
son, author of the Declaration of Independence, and 
the third President of the United States. It was during 

198 



THE PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA 199 

Jefferson's first term that the great purchase of Lou- 
isiana was made. 

Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia had become 
thriving states. They raised more grain, tobacco, and 
cattle than they needed for themselves and so sought 
a market for their goods. The Allegheny Mountains 
formed a lofty barrier to the east. The rivers were 
the natural roads for trade. The Kentucky, the 
Tennessee, and the Ohio ran to the Mississippi ; the 
Mississippi poured its wide yellow waste of waters 
into the Gulf of Mexico. A city on the Mississippi, 
beside the Gulf, was plainly the trading center of this 
region. Such a city was already there, — New Orleans ! 

But New Orleans was not an American city, it 
was Spanish. Spain owned the western bank of the 
Mississippi and the vast regions stretching far, far away 
into the great unknown. East of the river, her terri- 
tory consisted of Florida and the city of New Orleans. 

In 1795, a treaty was made with Spain by which 
she granted what was called "the right of deposit.'' 
This right allowed American merchants to take their 
goods into New Orleans without paying duty to Spain, 
to store their wares for a while, if necessary, and then 
either to sell them in New Orleans or to ship them to 
another port. The traders of the United States eagerly 
availed themselves of the pri\dlege, and an active little 
commerce flourished.' 

The rough westerners who journeyed to New Orleans 



2CX) THOMAS JEFFERSON 

found the city one of wonderful charm. It was so 
strange, so foreign, so unlike anything they had 
previously known. 

To begin with, the city was walled. On three sides 
were stout earth embankments surmounted by a wooden 
palisade. The fourth side edged the river, and there the 
levee made the wall. At New Orleans the Mississippi 
was like a great yellow lake. To keep it from flooding 
the whole country, dikes, or levees, had been built along 
its shores. Thus it happened, just as in Holland, that 
the water was higher than the land beyond the levees. 

Five bastions were built upon the wall, and at each 
bastion were mounted a few cannons. The wall was 
pierced by four gates, beside which Spanish soldiers 
stood on guard. 

The streets of New Orleans were narrow and un- 
paved. When it rained, they were deep in mud. 
Most of the houses were built in the Spanish style. 
This means that the various buildings of the house- 
hold were grouped so as to inclose a courtyard. A 
covered gallery, or piazza, on the second floor ran 
around the walls of the house. The courtyard itself 
was most attractive. Here grew blossoming orange 
trees, figs, and magnolias, ''camelias, dazzling in their 
purity, blood-red oleanders, and pink roses that climbed 
even to the tiled roof." In this cool and refreshing 
spot the family and their guests would gather at the 
close of day. 



THE PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA 



201 



Some of the houses were built of brick covered with 
pink or cream-colored stucco ; others were built of 
adobe, or hard-baked clay; still others were of wood. 
They had red tiled roofs and charming dormer windows 
and lattices, while the delicate ironwork of the gate- 
ways was a marvel to behold. 




"The courtyard was most attractive." 

New Orleans had its fine public buildings. The 
people were justly proud of their cathedral and of the 
houses of their governor and other Spanish officials. 

The levee was the center of the life of the city. It 
was planted with trees that gave a grateful shade in the 
heated hours of the day. But very few people were 
found here at noon, for every one took a nap of sev- 



202 



THOMAS JEFFERSON 



eral hours at that time. '' Siesta " was the name of this 
noonday rest. All visitors to the city, whether they had 
come for business or for pleasure, soon adopted this cus- 
tom. Thus it came to pass that the busy times on the 
levee were in the early morning and in the late afternoon. 




The levee was the center of the life of the city 



New Orleans had no exchange, or market building. 
Consequently the levee itself became a huge market. 
The ships were unloaded upon this mammoth earthen 
counter ; and flour, tobacco, molasses, sugar, ham, 
pork, and live stock were here bought and sold. Then 
followed the hush of midday; and then, with the cool 
breezes of evening, a gay and laughing throng gathered 
to pace beneath the orange trees and to gaze upon the 



THE PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA 203 

magic sunset tint of the river. '^ There were grave 
Spaniards in long cloaks and feathered beavers, jolly 
merchants and artisans in short linen jackets, . . . 
children laughing and shouting and dodging in and 
out between fathers and mothers beaming with quiet 
pride and contentment, swarthy boatmen with their 
worsted belts, gaudy negresses chanting in the soft 
patois, and here and there a blanketed Indian. Nor 
was this all. There were fine gentlemen with swords 
and silk waistcoats and silver shoe buckles, and ladies 
in filmy summer gowns." A city of beauty and ro- 
mance, — such seemed New Orleans to the hardy 
fellow from the backwoods of Kentucky or Ten- 
nessee. 

During the next few years the westerners were con- 
stantly urging upon the government at Washington 
the need of a port at the mouth of the Mississippi 
River to be controlled by the United States. ''Spain 
may recall her grant; she may close the whole river. 
Then we and our children shall starve," they urged. 
"New Orleans we must have at any price !" 

Some of the leaders in Washington took a wider 
outlook. They saw danger always menacing the 
nation from across the Mississippi. Spain as a neighbor 
was all very well. She might yield what was asked of 
her. But there was always the chance that the Spanish 
colonies might pass to France or to England. Both 
France and England were strong, ambitious nations, 



204 THOMAS JEFFERSON 

far stronger than the United States. They could 
dictate then in America and not we. 

At this time France was ruled by Napoleon Bona- 
parte, a man of lofty ambitions. France once had had 
vast possessions in America. But all this territory 
she had lost when defeated by England in the French 
and Indian War. Napoleon wished to regain a foot- 
ing in America. Consequently he made a treaty with 
Spain, in October, 1800, by which he acquired Louisiana 
with New Orleans. The treaty was kept secret, be- 
cause both powers knew that the exchange would 
anger England as well as the United States. 

Napoleon prepared to colonize Louisiana and, in 
time, the facts of the secret treaty became known. 
At once Jefferson instructed Robert Livingston, the 
American minister to France, to endeavor to buy 
New Orleans and the territory east of the Mississippi 
for our country. Napoleon, however, would not con- 
sider the matter. 

Suddenly a high Spanish official in New Orleans — 
for the Spanish had not yet turned Louisiana over to 
French rule — withdrew "the right of deposit." 
The hue and cry throughout the American side of the 
Mississippi was tremendous. War was threatened ; 
secession was proposed ; the air teemed with wild 
and ill-considered plans. 

More than ever was there need of obtaining New 
Orleans. Monroe was hastily sent as special envoy 



THE PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA 



205 



to assist Livingston in his well-nigh impossible task. 
And lo ! an astonishing change came over the great 
man of France. He offered to sell, not only New 
Orleans, but all Louisiana to the United States ! Liv- 
ingston and Monroe could not advise with Jefferson. 
There were no cables 
in those days as 
there are to-day. 
The envoys were 
men of nerve, and 
they accepted Na- 
poleon's offer. They 
bought Louisiana for 
$15,000,000. This 
was at the rate of 2^ 
cents an acre. Did 
ever a country ac- 
quire so much for 
so little ? 

Jefferson had acted quite outside any powers of the 
President given by the Constitution. He said him- 
self that he had strained his authority ^'even to creak- 
ing." But every one saw that the good of the country 
was secured by the Louisiana Purchase, and plain 
men everywhere applauded the good sense and zeal 
of the President. 

This purchase has been called the greatest act in 
the brilliant career of Thomas Jefferson. 




Napoleon offered to sell all Louisiana ! 



THE EXPLORATION OF LOUISIANA 

Once Louisiana was actually a part of our country, 
the people of the United States were eager to know 
about it. For miles upon miles the great unknown 
region stretched westward to limits no one exactly 
could name. Within its uncertain borders were name- 
less rivers, lakes, watersheds, plains, mountains, and 
even mountain ranges where the foot of the white 
man had never trod. Here might be new plants and 
animals, and tribes of Indians strange to the dwellers 
at the east. 

No man was more eager to learn the secrets of 
Louisiana than President Jefferson. He promptly 
appointed his secretary, Meriwether Lewis, to lead a 
band of picked men into Louisiana. They were to 
ascend the Missouri River to its source, which had 
never been found. Then they were to cross the high 
mountains in which the Missouri rose, to find the spring 
of the Columbia, and to float down that mighty river 
to the Pacific Ocean. Thus the continent would be 
crossed for the first time in the middle latitudes. 

Thomas Jefferson knew Meriwether Lewis well as boy 
and man. He had watched him grow up and knew how 
brave and tactful, how truthful and painstaking he was. 

206 



THE EXPLORATION OF LOUISIANA 207 

Lewis was overjoyed to be appointed leader of the 
expedition. He chose for his second in command, 
Lieutenant WiUiam Clark, the younger brother of 
George Rogers Clark. The entire party numbered 
forty-five, most of whom were soldiers. Lewis him- 
self was a captain in the United States army. 

Jefferson gave Lewis very carefully written direc- 
tions. He was to note the location of mouths of 
rivers, falls, islands, and portages ; he was to study 
the speech, laws, and occupations of the Indian tribes 
he might meet ; he was to observe the animals, plants, 
and minerals, especially such as were unknown in the 
east. Occasionally the notes and sketches of the 
journey were to be sent back to Washington. 

In the late fall of 1803, the party went down the 
Ohio River and up the Mississippi to a spot opposite 
the mouth of the Missouri River. Ice was forming 
in the rivers, so the band of explorers spent the winter 
here, on the Illinois side of the river. 

In May, 1804, they broke camp and loaded their 
three boats with food, clothing, guns, powder, lead, 
and trinkets for the Indians. Up the Missouri they 
went, until they came to unfamiliar ground. The 
Indians were strange and also the face of the country. 

They lived upon buffalo, deer, and occasionally 
black bear. In summer wild fruit varied the fare. 
Currants, raspberries, mulberries, plums, and wild 
apples were abundant and delicious. 



208 



LEWIS AND CLARK 



In time, the little band reached the prairies, — the 
wide plains where grew tall and waving grass that was 
never sown by man. When they wished to meet the 
Indians of a place, they would make a glorious bonfire 
of dried grass. The dense smoke, seen for miles 
around, was the well-known signal for a council. '' Red- 







d 




*^> -Jte 


' 


^ys 


y^3 


^ 




^V '' '^Pj^ 


tJb 


mP 




'¥ 






m 










^-M y 


^^ 



"In time, the little band reached the prairies." 

men, your white brothers call !" it beckoned across the 
leagues. ''Come, they await you." And the Indians 
promptly trooped to the meeting ground. 

At the gathering, medals and other knickknacks 
were presented to the savages. By means of inter- 
preters they were told that their hunting grounds had 
passed from Spain to the United States. They listened 
solemnly ; the news of this far-away transfer meant 



THE EXPLORATION OF LOUISIANA 209 

little to them. Lewis and Clark urged them to keep 
peace with the other tribes, their neighbors. They 
promised gravely and then did as they pleased after 
the little party were out of sight. 

November, 1804, found the explorers near Bismarck 
in North Dakota, and here they passed the winter. 

When the ice broke up on the Missouri River, the 
party divided. Fourteen went southeasterly, back 
to civilization ; the others were to travel on into the 
unknown. The return party carried precious freight 
in the shape of a complete report of the journey, letters 
to Jefferson, sketches, specimens of plants and insects, 
stuffed animals, and even a few live animals. 

Soon the explorers drew near the head waters 
of the Missouri. Here, in the neighborhood of the 
Yellowstone, they entered the finest hunting ground 
in America. Here they found animals unknown to 
white men up to that day. These strange creatures 
were the prong-horned antelope, the mule deer, the 
coyotes, and the grizzly bear. The black bear was a 
native of the Allegheny Mountains, but the grizzly 
bear was a foe of a very different type. 

Theodore Roosevelt, in his account of the Lewis 
and Clark expedition, speaks of the grizzly bear : 
*^ Again and again these huge bears attacked the ex- 
plorers of their own accord, when neither molested 
nor threatened. They galloped after the hunters 
when they met them on horseback even in the open ; 

COE M. 14 



2IO 



LEWIS AND CLARK 



and they attacked them just as freely when they found 
them on foot. ... In one case, a bear that was on 
shore actually plunged into the water and swam out 
to attack one of the canoes as it passed." 



4>^ Mk^, m 




" They bought horses from the Indians." 

Buffaloes, though large, were gentle and even tame. 
At times the explorers were obliged to push them out 
of their path with sticks. 

Rattlesnakes were troublesome foes, but the creature 
most dreaded was the mosquito, so small yet so 
formidable. The suffering inflicted by this tiny pest 
was maddening. The men would have chosen to meet 



THE EXPLORATION OF LOUISIANA 211 

a grizzly bear any day, rather than a swarm of 
mosquitoes. 

And now hard work was ahead. They had reached 
the source of the Missouri and must cross the Rocky 
Mountains. They hid their boats and stores on the 
eastern side, bought horses from the Indians, and 
struggled across the great divide. Hungry, weary, 
sometimes lost, they toiled on with their faces to the 
setting sun and at last were rewarded. They drank 
deeply at the first spring they found on the Pacific 
side of the mountains, and then set to work to build 
boats. In these they floated down the Columbia 
River, and in November, 1805, they came to a spot 
where they saw "waves like small mountains rolling 
out to sea." 

Here was their goal, the Pacific Ocean ! The 
great task that President Jefferson had laid before 
them had been brought to completion. 

The return journey was safely accomplished, and 
September, 1806, found them once more at St. Louis. 
"Never did a similar event excite more joy through 
the United States." The citizens everywhere were 
eager for news of the western territory. 

The two chief results of this enterprise of Thomas 
Jefferson were the knowledge gained of Louisiana and 
the strengthening of the claim of the United States 
upon Oregon. An American had found the mouth of 
the great Columbia River; Americans had explored 



212 LEWIS AND CLARK 

the Oregon region. Who had a better claim to the 
remote territory ? 

As for Louisiana, great facts about it had been ac- 
quired. The Rocky Mountains had been located; 
the head waters of the Missouri had been found ; the 
Yellowstone and other tributaries had been explored. 
Naturalists were delighted to learn of new varieties of 
antelope, deer, and bear. 

Thus the trail to the Pacific was open; and hunter, 
trapper, trader, pressed with more certain footsteps 
westward, because the rough road had been blazed 
for them by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON AS A SCIENTIST 



"The greatest service which can be rendered to any country 
is to add a useful plant to its culture, especially a bread grain." 

— Thomas Jefferson. 

An interesting story is told of Jefferson. Once 
when stopping at an inn, he spent the evening with 
a stranger from the North. The 
latter was much pleased with Jeffer- 
son's conversation and much sur- 
prised at his learning. ''When he 
spoke of law," said the stranger, "I 
thought he was a lawyer; when he 
talked about mechanics, I was sure 
he was an engineer ; when he got into 
medicine, it was evident that he was 
a physician ; when he discussed theology, I was con- 
vinced that he must be a clergyman ; when he talked 
of literature, I made up my mind that I had run 
against a college professor who knew everything. '^ 

All that this Northerner said was true. Thomas 
Jefferson was a man of wide interests and scientific 
thought. His inventions, his experiments, and his 
introductions of plants from England resulted in great 
good to the United States. 




A silhouette of 
Jefiferson. 



213 



214 THOMAS JEFFERSON 

We have spoken in this little volume of two other 
inventors. They were Benjamin Franklin and Eli 
Whitney, both of whom were born in New England. 
Although Thomas Jefferson was a Virginian, he seemed 
to possess the genuine Yankee talent for invention. 
He invented a carriage top, a hemp brake, a plow, and 
a copying press. 

Jefferson also invented a revolving armchair, which 
certain unfriendly newspapers used to call '^ Mr. Jeffer- 
son's whirligig." They said he had planned it so that 
he could ''look all ways at once." 

Citizens of the United States are most grateful to 
Jefferson for planning our coinage system. We count 
our money by tens, and that is far better than the 
English system with its difficult shillings and pence. 

During the long years that Jefferson spent in Europe 
he was constantly on the lookout for inventions and 
superior methods in husbandry or in cattle raising. 
All that he learned he passed on to his country. The 
first threshing machine set up in Virginia was imported 
by Jefferson from Scotland, 

To improve the native flocks, he brought over a fine 
breed of Merino sheep and sheep from Barbary as well. 
He also imported hogs. 

Most interesting were Jefferson's experiments with 
plants. He introduced vines, melons, nuts, and caper 
plants from Europe, and scattered cuttings and seeds 
broadcast among his friends. He was much impressed 



JEFFERSON AS A SCIENTIST 



215 



with the vahie of the olive tree to France and Italy. 
It was hardy and would grow in very poor soil. It 
bore abundantly, and its fruit was most useful in cook- 
ing. Jefferson had a cargo of olive plants brought from 
Marseilles. The crop was started in South Carolina 
and Georgia, but it 
was not a success. 

The' best rice of 
Europe was grown 
in northern Italy, 
but it was against 
the law to carry any 
rice seed out of the 
country. Jefferson, 
however, became a 
law breaker for the 
sake of the United 
States. While in 
Turin, he arranged 
with a donkey driver 
to carry two sackfuls of rice over the Apennines. 
Jefferson also filled his own pockets with the precious 
seeds. Even if the man should fail to carry out the 
agreement, he would still have a tiny store. The 
driver never appeared, but Jefferson sent his rice to the 
Agricultural Society of South Carolina. It was par- 
celed out, a dozen grains or so to a planter, and was 
carefully watched as it grew. 




Jefferson and the donkey driver. 



2i6 THOMAS JEFFERSON 

It took kindly to the new soil, and to-day the rice of 
the South, the finest rice in the world, is a product of 
the couple of handfuls Jefferson smuggled out of Italy 
in his pockets. 

Jefferson said he acted according to "the higher law.'^ 
I wonder whether he really did right. What do you 
think ? 



THE GAINING OF FLORIDA 

Sixteen years after the great Louisiana Purchase, 
the United States gained another large territory. This 
was Florida. Our country would probably have won 
Florida at some time, either by purchase or by con- 
quest, but the man who hastened matters was Andrew 
Jackson. That was very like Jackson. He was a 
man of unbounded energy. Wherever he was, deeds 
were done, events were sped on their way. He was 
a sort of ''hurry-up'' man. 

To understand the story of Florida, we must know 
something of Jackson. 

Andrew Jackson was born in North Carolina in 1767. 
Andrew became a lanky, barefooted boy, with a long 
face under red and tousled hair. His eyes were bright 
blue and very keen. ''He was a merry lad, with a 
wondrous quick temper, but a good heart." Even 
from a child, Andrew Jackson was a fighter. He 
whipped the boys in the village school where he picked 
up his scanty education; and he longed, above every- 
thing else, to join the army. 

When Andrew was thirteen, he joined the patriot 
troops in South Carolina and was with General Sumter 

217 



21. 



ANDREW JACKSON 




I'll clean no man's muddy boots ! 



in the battle of Hanging Rock. Soon after, he was 
made prisoner by the British. 

One day an Enghsh officer ordered Jackson to clean 
his boots. " Clean your boots ! " cried Andy. ''Do you 
take me for a slave ? I'm a prisoner of war, and I'll 
clean no man's muddy boots." The officer gave him a 



THE GAINING OF FLORIDA 219 

blow with his sword. Andrew parried the blow but 
received two severe wounds, the scars of which he carried 
to the grave. 

During the next few years, Andrew tried various 
occupations. Finally he settled down to the study of 
law, and this profession he followed to success. He 
became a district attorney in Tennessee at twenty-one. 

Tennessee was a wild and lawless region in those 
days. Men used their pistols impulsively and reflected 
over the irreparable consequences afterwards. As dis- 
trict attorney, Jackson was often in grave danger. 
Sometimes, in the very court room itself, men would 
double up their fists and refuse to be tried. Jackson 
was not the man to stand any nonsense. He himself 
v/ould take a hand in the fray, would force the prisoner 
back into his place, and compel him to await the ver- 
dict and to pay the penalty. 

Andrew Jackson was just the man for this difficult 
office. The people of his state grew to know him and 
to trust him. His manners were rough and his judg- 
ments harsh and severe, but the man was honest to the 
core. He loved his state and his country from the 
depths of a big warm heart. 

When Jackson was thirty-four, he was made major 
general of the Tennessee militia. This post he held 
for sixteen years. Most of these years were peaceful 
ones, but in 1813 Jackson carried on a hot campaign 
against the Creek Indians. 



220 



ANDREW JACKSON 



The Creeks were a tribe of Indians holding land that 
comprised a large part of the states of Georgia, Alabama, 
and Florida. They had sided with the English during 
the Revolutionary War. After the war, treaties had 




Creek Indians 



been made with these In- 
dians, and they had even begun 
to cede their lands to the United 
States. 
This tranquil state of affairs was 
changed by Tecumseh, a very tal- 
ented Shawnee chief. Tecumseh 
was a born leader of men, much like 
Andrew Jackson himself. He planned to unite all the 
Indian tribes of the West and the South in one grand 
effort to free America from the powerful whites. With 
this purpose in mind he came to visit the Creeks and 
to urge them to rise. The time was favorable, for the 
Americans were again at war with the English. Now 
or never was the time for the Indians to make them- 
selves free. 

The Creeks uprose and inflicted a terrible blow upon 



THE GAINING OF FLORIDA 221 

the whites at Fort Mims, a garrison in southern Ala- 
bama. Of the five hundred and fifty-three whites, but 
five or six escaped. 

The neighboring states of Georgia and Tennessee 
were filled with sympathy and with terror. They knew 
that this rising of the Indians must be put down with a 
strong hand, or their turn would follow. With a ball 
in his shoulder and his left arm in a sling. General 
Andrew Jackson rose from his bed to take the field. 

The campaign was a brief but a brilliant one. In the 
next seven months Jackson laid waste the finest por- 
tions of the Creek country, and slew and captured 
2000 of the tribe. In May, 1814, Jackson was made 
a major general in the regular army and was given 
the command of the department of the South. 

The news from Florida was very disturbing. Many 
Creeks had fled to Florida, where they were harbored by 
the Spaniards. Moreover, English vessels were landing 
arms and troops at Pensacola. The English were also 
gathering together the scattered Indians and training 
them as soldiers. Evidently the next step was to be a 
move against the United States. 

As soon as General Jackson grasped the situation, he 
gathered 2000 volunteers and marched southward. He 
did not stop at the southern boundary line of the United 
States. To the amazement of the British, he appeared 
at Pensacola and demanded the surrender of the fort 
garrisoned by the British. He declared that he had no 



222 



ANDREW JACKSON 



wish to fight Spain, but that she was no longer to shelter 
either English or Creeks. Early in the morning of 
November 7th, Jackson with 3000 men marched upon 
the town. Pensacola promptly surrendered, the 




Jackson at the battle of New Orleans. 



British sailed away in their ships, and Jackson was 
left master of the field. 

He had no orders to enter a foreign country. It was 
his own headlong way of pursuing his enemy to its lair 
that caused him to act as he did. But the nation came 
very soon to feel that he had acted wisely. 

Two months later he won the battle of New Orleans. 



THE GAINING OF FLORIDA 223 

The country rang with his praises, for this was the one 
great land victory of the War of 181 2. That victory 
had much to do with winning for him the presidency. 

A few years later Jackson was once again in Pensacola. 
It came about in this way. An Indian war, known as 
the Seminole War, was raging in the South; and again 
Andrew Jackson was the general in the field. The 
Seminoles fled before him, and he pursued. It mattered 
little to him that they crossed the border into Florida. 
He followed to destroy. He captured two Spanish 
towns and hanged two Englishmen who had been 
aiding his Indian foes. 

The government at Washington was aghast at what 
he had done. Spain and England were both at peace 
with the United States. Such action might at once 
provoke war. It w^as ill advised and foolhardy. 

Jackson, however, had one able defender. This was 
John Quincy Adams, secretary of state. The two 
towns, one of which was Pensacola, were promptly 
returned to Spain, but Jackson's course was declared 
right and necessary. Spain was too weak to police 
her borders ; she could not discipline her marauders. 
Jackson had come to her aid. 

Had Spain been a strong, rich nation, the outcome of 
this episode would have been very different. As it 
was, she saw her inability to keep order, and acted 
most wisely in ceding Florida to the United States in 
18 1 9. For this picturesque region of creek, marsh, 



2 24 ANDREW JACKSON 

and forest land, one twelfth the size of the original 
thirteen colonies, we paid $5,000,000, — a goodly sum, 
but it was best to own Florida at any price. At the 
same time the United States gave up all claim to Texas, 
while Spain ceded to us what rights she had in Oregon. 
As for Andrew Jackson, he became our seventh 
President. He was fearless, he w^as honest, he was 
untiringly energetic. These were quaHties that the 
plain citizen so admired that he gave Jackson eight 
years in the White House. It is said that ''never were 
the affairs of the republic in its domestic and foreign 
relations more prosperous than at the close of his term 
of office." 



ROBERT FULTON AND THE STEAMBOAT 

"But why drives on that ship so fast, 
Without or wave or wind ? " 

— Coleridge. 

In pioneer days, the easiest way from place to place 
was to go by water. Later, horseback trails and then 
wagon roads were made, but the river highways were 
still gladly used. 

Nothing could be easier than to float downstream, 
but to go upstream was a very different matter. To 
make headway against the current meant hard tugging 
at the oar. '' If we could only make boats go upstream, 
how delightful it would be." This was what many in 
all parts of the country were thinking. 

James Watt, an Englishman, had just invented the 
steam engine. Inventors every^vhere saw what a great 
achievement it would be to make boats move by steam. 
The fortunate man who built the first steamboat that 
went to the satisfaction of all was Robert Fulton. 

Robert Fulton did not invent the steamboat or any 
part of it. He simply combined all the necessary parts 
so that they worked together perfectly. His vessel, 
the Clermont, was the first practical success in the 
building of steamboats. 

COE M. — 15 225 



226 ROBERT FULTON 

From a mere child, Fulton had shown himself the 
born inventor. He loved to spend hours in the shops 
and at the forges watching the men at work. One day 
he came to school very late. '' Where have you been ? " 
asked the master. ''I have been making myself a lead 
pencil. It is the best I have ever had." And Robert 
handed his teacher a pencil which he had hammered 
out of sheet metal. It was indeed an excellent pencil ; 
the lad had not overestimated it. 

Robert used to go fishing with a chum a few years 
older than himself. The boys used a flat-bottomed 
boat which they moved with long poles. This labor 
was very fatiguing. Robert invented paddle wheels 
which, when attached to the boat, made it move very 
easily. After this, the fishing trips were all play and 
no work. 

Robert Fulton was very skillful in drawing and 
painting. He was in doubt as to which he should be, 
a portrait painter or an inventor. 

When he was twenty-one, Fulton went to England. 
There he sought out the well-known American painter, 
Benjamin West. He studied painting under West, 
but he also turned his attention to inventions. He 
made some important devices that have to do with 
canals, and he also invented the torpedo and the 
torpedo boat. 

Fulton went to France and while there met Robert 
R. Livingston, the American patriot and statesman. 



FULTON AND THE STEAMBOAT 



227 



Some years before, Livingston had tried to make a 
steamboat run on the Hudson River, but he had failed. 
The state of New 
York had promised 
him a monopoly for 



■,J^iJkli;^-^^ 




twenty years 

upon all the rivers and 

lakes of New York state, 

if he could make a steamboat 

run up the Hudson at the rate 

of four miles an hour. 

You may imagine that Liv- 
ingston was interested in meet- 
ing the inventor Fulton. The two men became friends 
and, later, partners. Fulton built a trial boat and 
used it upon the Seine. The French people seemed 



Fulton's paddle wheels made 
the boat move easily. 



228 



ROBERT FULTON 



to think little of it, but Livingston and Fulton were 
satisfied. 

In December, 1806, Fulton arrived in New York. 
One of Watt's engines had been shipped to America, 

and very soon 
Fulton was direct- 
ing men who were 
at work upon the 
new boat. He 
called her the Cler- 
mont, which was 
the name of the 
country home of 
his partner, Liv- 
ingston. But the 
vessel was called 
^'Fulton's Folly" 
by those who 
thought his pur- 
pose a mad one. 
August 17, 1807, 
was the day set for the trial trip of the Clermont. She 
was to go to Albany, and, if she breasted the current 
at the rate of four miles an hour, the New York mo- 
nopoly would be secured by the partners. You can 
see how much there was at stake. 

Livingston and Fulton had many invited guests, 
both men and women. It was a great occasion. The 




The Clermont on the Hudson River. 



FULTON AND THE STEAMBOAT 229 

shores were lined with onlookers, and at last the hour 
of starting came. We will let Fulton himself tell of 
their departure. ''The moment arrived in which the 
word was to be given for the boat to move. My friends 
were in groups on the deck. There was anxiety mixed 
with fear among them. They were silent, sad, and 
weary. I read in their looks nothing but disaster, and 
almost repented of my efforts. The signal was given, 
and the boat moved on a short distance and then 
stopped and became immovable. To the silence of the 
preceding moment, now succeeded murmurs of dis- 
content, and agitations, and whispers, and shrugs. I 
could hear distinctly repeated : ' I told you it was so ; 
it is a foolish scheme ; I wish we were out of it.' 

"I elevated myself upon a platform and addressed 
the assembly. I stated that I knew not what was the 
matter, but if they would be quiet and indulge me for 
half an hour, I would either go on or abandon the voyage 
for that time. This short respite was conceded without 
objection. I went below and examined the machinery, 
and discovered that the cause was a slight maladjust- 
ment of some of the works. In a short time it was 
obviated. The boat was soon put in motion. She 
continued to move on. i\ll were still incredulous. 
None seemed willing to trust the evidence of their own 
senses." 

As the Clermont pushed on steadily mile after mile 
upstream, the guests grew happier and more confident. 



230 ROBERT FULTON 

The fresh air, the wonderful scenery, the delightfully 
rapid motion made the day one never to be forgotten. 
Finally the party broke into Fulton's favorite song : 

" Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon, 
How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair ; 
How can ye chant, ye little birds, 
And I sae weary fu' o' care ? " 

Doubtless many were thinking more of the bonny 
Hudson than of the bonny Scotch river so far away. 

The boatmen in their little craft upon the river and 
the farmers on the shore were filled with amazement as 
the Clermont passed. She burned very soft wood, so 
that much smoke and flame poured from her smoke- 
stack. When some of the sailors and boatmen saw 
^'this queer-looking sailless thing" gaining upon them 
in spite of contrary wind and tide, they actually aban- 
doned their vessels and took to the woods in fright. 

The speed of the little vessel quite satisfied Fulton and 
Livingston. Here is Fulton's report of the first trip : 

'' My steamboat voyage to Albany and back has 
turned out rather more favorably than I had calculated. 
The distance from New York to Albany is one hundred 
and fifty miles. I ran it up in thirty-two hours, and 
down in thirty. I had a light breeze against me all the 
way, both going and coming, and the voyage has been 
performed wholly by the power of the steam engine. 
I overtook many sloops and schooners, beating to the 
windward, and parted with them as if they had been at 



FULTON AND THE STEAMBOAT 231 

anchor. The power of propelling boats by steam is 
now fully proved." Thus the Clermont won the New 
York monopoly for the partners. 

It was planned to run the steamboat several times a 
week between New York and Albany. The early 
passengers were looked upon as men of courage by the 
rank and file, who feared lest the Clermont's boilers 
should explode. When Judge John Q. Wilson was to 
make the trip, a friend stopped him in the street with 
these words: "John, will thee risk thy Hfe in such a 
concern ? I tell thee she is the most fearful wild fowl 
living, and thy father ought to restrain thee." 

In the next few years Fulton was busy building ves- 
sels for steamship companies in different parts of the 
United States. He also built ferryboats to run across the 
North and East rivers in New York city. He invented 
the rounded ends of the ferryboats and the floating 
docks. A further task was the building of the first war 
steamer ever constructed. Her speed was two and a 
half miles an hour, and this was considered marvelous 
in those days. She bore the name of Fulton the 
First. 

Robert Fulton died in 181 5, at the age of fifty. He 
was a man who spelled " Ideas " with a capital, and 
" money " with a small letter. What he was trying to 
accomplish meant far more to him than the money he 
might make. He was a man of charming manners 
and noble character. 



232 



ROBERT FULTON 



As a consequence of his great achievement, the rivers 
and lakes throughout our broad land began to be 



r til 



■^•^ ^j^Dnvam * 



A modern steamboat, the Olympic. 

dotted with steamboats. By the help of steam, the 
West was settled rapidly ; mails were carried more 
swiftly; trading between states was easier. ''The 
steamboat had become a powerful factor in the de- 
velopment of American nationaHty." 



THE COMING OF THE STEAM RAILROAD 

"Who are the greatest men of the present age? Not your 
warriors, not your statesmen ; they are your engineers." 

— John Bright. 

Soon after the success of the Clermont, Robert Ful- 
ton was journeying from New York to Washington. 
He was traveling by stage, and there were many 
tedious delays while the horses were changed. At one 
wayside tavern the long wait prompted one of the pas- 
sengers, a woman, to turn to Mr. Fulton with these 
words : 

''O, Mr. Fulton, you have invented a way to travel 
quickly over the water ; why can you not invent a way 
to carry us quickly over the land?" 

Fulton bowed low, and said, ''Madam, it will come." 

Of course you realize that what made both the 
steamboat and the steam locomotive possible was the 
invention of the steam engine by James Watt, in 1765. 
It was this engine with which both Englishmen and 
Americans were experimenting in order to make the 
successful locomotive. 

Some of the early locomotives ran freely in England, 
as do automobiles to-day. No tracks were laid down 
for them. On account of the thick smoke and fiery 

233 



234 



THE STEAM RAILROAD 



sparks that belched from their smokestacks, they ter- 
rified the country people for miles around. It was even 
said that the crops would be ruined and the domestic 

animals would be 
killed by the flam- 
ing breath of the 
locomotive. 

Both in England 
and in America the 
value of rails had 
been proved in 
mines, quarries, 
and collieries. 
Alules or horses 
could draw loaded 
cars more readily 
if the cars ran upon 
rails. These tracks 
were first of wood, 
either flat or bev- 
eled ; later these 
wooden rails were topped with metal ; then metal rails 
alone were used. Horses gave way to small steam en- 
gines which drew heaA/y loads for short distances. 
These first engines had httle speed ; they crept along 
with turtle-like slowness. 

The man who built the first engine that attained 
to satisfactory speed was George Stephenson of New- 




Traveling by stage 



STORY OF THE FIRST TRAIN 235 

castle upon Tyne, England. Stephenson had been a 
machinist and engineer from his youth. He was not 
a greater inventor than others who were trying to 
i^rove the locomotive. He was patient; he was 
persevering; and above all he was practical. He 
knew how to win the confidence of moneyed men , 
consequently he had funds by him always for his 
experiments. Thus he won out, when others failed. 

In 1821, Stephenson was employed to construct 
the first EngUsh railroad, from Stockton to Darling- 
ton Four vears later the line was opened with great 
success. An engine, dragging a coal car in which were 
seated the railroad officials, ran over the Ime^ A 
man on horseback rode ahead to warn people otf he 
tracks. "Suppose a cow should happen to get on the 
track, Mr. Stephenson," suggested an onlooker. It 
wad be vera bad for the coo, " rephed Stephenson dryly. 
In 1826, the Liverpool and Manchester hne was 
begun, with George Stephenson as the chief engmeen 
Four years later came the grand opening of the road 
when, for the first time, a locomotive showed great 
speed. On that day, September 15, 1830, the Rocket, 
built by Stephenson, made a wonderful record, runmng 
thirty-five miles an hour. 

Interest in locomotives and steam engines was very 
keen in America. The people of the Umted States 
showed themselves thoroughly alive to the importance 
of what was happening in England. 



236 THE STEAM RAILROAD 

The man who helped to bring about the first suc- 
cessful steam railroad in America was Peter Cooper. 
Cooper had great practical sagacity. He owned much 
land near Baltimore; and he saw that, if Baltimore 
grew as a city, this land would advance in value. 

Baltimore was eager to establish a trade with the 
West. Both New York and Philadelphia had opened 
up waterways, but experts declared that the digging 
of a canal was too expensive for Baltimore to undertake. 

The next proposal was to establish a railway, with 
cars drawn by horses. In 1827 the Baltimore and 
Ohio Railway was organized. Money came in very 
freely. Great success seemed certain. Unfortunately 
it was soon discovered that the horse cars would not 
pay expenses. 

But news began to reach Baltimore as to what was 
being accomplished with steam engines in England. 
Hope sprang up again, only to sink once more when 
word came that Stephenson declared that steam en- 
gines could never make the short turns that occurred 
here and there on the route that must be taken from 
Baltimore to the West. 

All the merchants except Peter Cooper abandoned 
the idea of steam. He, however, said to himself, ''I 
believe I can knock together a locomotive that will 
take those various loops and will be a success, even in 
America." He told his plan to the directors of the 
Baltimore and Ohio and then fell to work. 



STORY OF THE FIRST TRAIN 



237 



He procured a small brass engine and a boiler of the 
size of an ordinary kitchen wash boiler. He needed 
iron tubes, but, as none were to be had, he knocked off 
the wood from two muskets and used the barrels. 
The resulting steam engine was no larger than a hand 
car used by workmen upon the railroad. It weighed 
less than a ton. Cooper named it the Tom Thumb. 

One Saturday night Peter Cooper asked the presi- 
dent of the road and a few other guests to take a short 
trip with this engine. They ran about two or three 
miles into the country, and all were delighted. The 
little engine had done well. Cooper then invited them 
all to share a trial trip the following Monday, when the 
engine would be tested more severely. 

Several mishaps, however, postponed that test. 
The Tom Thumb was stored in a shed that night, and 
on Sunday a thief broke in and stole all its copper for 
old junk. Later, one of the wheels was broken by a 
workman ; and again, both wheels were injured. 

When, after these delays, the trial trip did occur, it 
was a great success. Peter Cooper thus describes it : 
"At last all was ready ; and on a Monday we started, — 
six in the engine, and thirty-six in the car which I took 
in tow. We went up an average grade of eighteen 
feet for seven miles ; made the thirteen miles to Elli- 
cott's Mills in one hour and twelve minutes ; and came 
back in fifty-seven minutes. The result of that ex- 
periment was that the bonds of the railroad company 



238 THE STEAM RAILROAD 

were sold at once and there was no longer any doubt 
as to the success of the road." This was in 1830. 

The stagecoach owners of Baltimore were furious 
at the success of Cooper's engine. They realized that 
much of their livelihood would be gone if cars were to 
be drawn by steam. So they proposed a nine-mile 
race between a horse and the engine. The horse was 
to draw a light car on rails parallel to the railroad 
track. They selected a swift gray horse to enter 
against the engine. 

The race did actually occur. The horse started 
more quickly, but the pufhng engine at last got under 
way. For a while it was a neck and neck race. But 
the horse grew tired and the engine ran ahead. Vic- 
tory seemed sure. But alas for the Tom Thumb! A 
pulley slipped ; the train broke down ; and the gray 
horse actually won! How the stagecoach proprietors 
laughed and jeered ! 

In the early days trains went at the rate of fifteen 
miles an hour, and fares were three or four cents a 
mile. The cars were at first built like the old stage- 
coaches, but soon the roads began to build the long car 
with platforms at either end. Accidents were fre- 
quent, as there was little system in the dispatching of 
trains. 

Because the United States had not skilled workmen, 
the locomotives for the first steam railroads were 
imported from England. You remember Fulton se- 



STORY OF THE FIRST TRAIN 



239 



cured the engine for the Clermont in England. But, 
in time, Americans began to find the Enghsh locomo- 
tives unsuited to America. Our country, with its 




"The race did actually occur." 

Steep upgrades and its great distances, required a 
different sort of locomotive. So our inventors came 
to alter the English t}qoe to fit our ov/n needs. 

Year by year the speed increased ; the rails and 



240 



THE STEAM RAILROAD 



road bed improved ; the coaches grew more comfort- 
able. In 1869 the Union Pacific Railroad, the first 
steel link binding the Atlantic to the Pacific shores, 
was completed and opened with great rejoicing. Hence- 
forth our people could visit with ease the unknown, 

strange, and beau- 
tiful sections of our 
country and grow 
to understand the 
thoughts and pur- 
poses of fellow citi- 
zens three thousand 
miles away. 

Railroad speed in 
1 830 was about four 
miles an hour; to-day it is over a mile a minute. In 
1830 there were but twenty- three miles of passenger 
railways in the United States; now there are about 
250,000 miles of railway, which cost twenty billion 
dollars. A century, lacking a few years, has brought 
about a tremendous change. 




A locomotive of to-day 



THE BUILDING OF THE ERIE CANAL 

At the close of the eighteenth century, a sad fact was 
evident to the people of eastern New York and New 
England. Trade from the West was not coming in 
their direction. Instead, it was being drawn westward 
and southward into the Mississippi valley. 

From the neighboring state of Ohio, for example, 
goods were sent to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Thence 
they descended the Ohio and Mississippi to find a mar- 
ket at New Orleans. The growing territories of Indiana, 
Illinois, Missouri, and Michigan were already following 
the example of Ohio. 

The citizens of Albany and New York felt that much 
of this promising trade, by right, should belong to 
them. But the transportation rates from Buffalo to 
both Albany and New York were exceedingly high. 
It took three weeks and cost ten dollars to send a 
barrel of flour from Buffalo to Albany. From Buffalo 
to New York the charge was one hundred dollars a ton. 

As this was before the time of locomotives, the remedy 
proposed was not the railroad, but the canal. New 
York state seemed naturally adapted for this purpose. 
"The Hudson River, carrying tide water through a 
mountain cleft for a distance of one hundred and fifty 

COE M. — 1 6 241 



242 THE ERIE CANAL 

miles ; its tributary, the Mohawk, extending westward 
almost to the smaller lakes, which practically formed a 
chain to the great inland sea, Ontario, and brought one 
within comparatively short distance of Erie ; these 
were ideal conditions for canalization." 

In 1812 the time seemed to have arrived for action. 
Commissioners were appointed ; surveys were made ; 
gifts of land were solicited ; an expert engineer was 
called from England. The state of New York had high 
hopes of aid from the government. 

Then came the War of 181 2. In time of war, no 
nation enters upon expensive undertakings. Money 
must be husbanded for the conduct of the war. Still 
the people thought and talked much about the canal 
project during the next few years. 

A strong friend to the canal was De Witt Clinton, a 
patriotic citizen of New York state. He wrote a strong 
paper stating clearly the great benefit that would come 
to the state if the canal were built. People came to 
call the canal ''Clinton's big ditch." 

One great difficulty was the expense. "How shall you 
get back the millions it will cost?" said the citizens. 
''We shall tax every boat that goes through it," 
Clinton answered. 

In March, 181 7, it was settled that the government 
would not aid in building the canal. Instead of being 
downcast and discouraged, the people of New York 
state pluckily decided to do the work themselves. 



THE BUILDING OF THE ERIE CANAL 243 

They were undertaking ''the greatest piece of engineer- 
ing that had, up to that time, been attempted in the 
United States." The cost had been calculated as 
between five and six millions. 

On July I, 181 7, De Witt Clinton became governor of 
New York. Three days later the mammoth work was 
begun. 

You must remember that, in those days, there was no 
blasting and no steam machinery. "Every pound of 
dirt must be lifted by the shovel." The canal was to be 
40 feet wide, 4 feet deep, and 363 miles long. To 
hasten the work, convicts from the state prisons were 
added to the laborers. ''Those old-time diggers must 
have known how to make the dust fly," for in eight 
years the Herculean task was done. 

No wonder the opening of the Erie Canal was an 
occasion of public rejoicing. The great day was 
October 26, 1825. When the waters of Lake Erie 
entered the canal, the glad news was signaled by can- 
nons throughout the length of the canal and down the 
Hudson River to New York city. These, you remem- 
ber, were the days before the telegraph had been 
invented. 

At ten o'clock on the morning of the great day, a 
procession of brightly painted barges started to traverse 
the canal. The first barge was the Seneca. It was gay 
with bunting and was drawn by four noble gray horses 
which stepped briskly along on the towing path. On 



244 



THE ERIE CANAL 



the deck might be seen two casks, each filled with water 
from Lake Erie. The passengers on the Seneca were 




Governor Clinton poured the water from Lake Erie into the sea 



Governor Clinton and prominent men who had helped 
to bring about the great result. 

Day after day the barges swept on, met by gayety 
and festivities all along the route. At Albany, brightly 



THE BUILDING OF THE ERIE CANAL 245 

decorated steamboats took the canal boats in tow and 
brought them to New York. Even then the journey 
was not quite done. The party went down the harbor 
and out beyond the Narrows. Here Governor CHnton 
poured the water from Lake Erie into the sea. This 
was to typify the union of the inland waters with the 
ocean. 

The Erie Canal had cost $7,602,000, but more than 
this sum was received from the tolls during the ten 
years following its completion. 

The consequences that resulted from the opening of 
the canal were '' all that had been prophesied and much 
more. The rates of transportation were at once 
greatly cheapened. The barrel of flour could now be 
carried from Buffalo to Albany for thirty cents. For- 
merly, you remember, it had cost ten dollars. It was 
not long before $1 would transport from Albany to 
Buffalo as much weight as $15 had formerly done." 
There was a gain also in speed. As for the towns 
along the route of the canal, they promptly sprang into 
cities. Utica, Rome, Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo 
are all prosperous cities to-day, thanks to the Erie 
Canal. 

As for New York city, wealth untold came to her 
from the West. She grew to be the first commercial 
city in the land, because the citizens of New York had 
had the foresight and energy to accomplish a mighty 
feat of engineering at the appropriate moment. 




THE INVENTION OF THE TELEGRAPH 

''I'll put a girdle round the earth in forty minutes." 

— Puck. 

Swift as are the steamboat and locomotive, the tele- 
graph can outstrip them all. In a moment of time 
friends, separated by oceans or continents, can speak to 

each other. Space and time 
are not the impossible barriers 
they were seventy years ago. 
The man who gave to the 
world the great gift of the telegraph was Samuel 
Finley Breese Morse. 

During his youth and early manhood, there was one 
lesson that was impressed upon Samuel Morse. This 
was the importance of concentrated attention. His 
father writes: ''Your natural disposition, my dear 
son, renders it proper for me earnestly to recommend 
to you to attend to one thing at a time ; it is impossible 
that you can do two things well at the same time. 
. . . This steady and undissipated attention to one 
object is a sure mark of a superior genius ; as hurry, 
bustle, and agitation are the never-failing symptoms 
of a weak and frivolous mind." 

Samuel Morse resembled Robert Fulton in one way. 

246 



THE INVENTION OF THE TELEGRAPH 247 

He too loved painting and wished to make this art his 
life work. Seeing the heart of the young man was set 
upon painting, his parents did their best to help him in 
his chosen work. With Washington Allston, he crossed 
the ocean to become a pupil of the American artist, 
Benjamin West, who was living at the time in England. 
West, you recollect, had also been the teacher of Fulton. 

The journey from Boston to London was a long one 
in those days. It was over a month before Morse 
could write home the news of his safe arrival. In this 
first letter he says: "I only wish you had this letter 
now to relieve your minds from anxiety. ... I wish 
that in an instant I could communicate the information ; 
but three thousand miles are not passed over in an 
instant, and we must wait four long weeks before we 
can hear from each other." 

Years afterward his father indorsed the letter with 
the words ''already dreaming of the telegraph." 

Samuel Morse remained abroad four years. After 
his return to America, at twenty-four years of age, he 
began to earn his living as a painter. Fortune alter- 
nately frowned and smiled upon Morse. At times 
money came in freely; then again he would be very 
poor, not knowing whence his next dollar was coming. 

In 1829 he went abroad for further study. He 
remained in Europe for three years, and it was on the 
return voyage that he reached the great turning point 
in his career. 



248 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

It was a pleasant company of passengers on the 
packet ship Sully, and many an hour was whiled away in 
conversation. One evening the topic was some recent 
experiments with electricity. 

'^Does the length of wire affect the speed of the 
electric current passing through it ? " some one inquired. 

''Oh, no," replied a Dr. Jackson, "it passes instantly 
over any length of wire." 

''If electricity can go ten miles without stopping, it 
can go around the globe," said Morse. " If the presence 
of electricity can be made visible in any part of the 
circuit, why may not messages be sent by means of 
electricity?" 

What a wonderful thought was this ! Many heard 
the words, but their tremendous import was alone 
realized by the speaker himself. 

He went away and brooded over the new idea. 
Tradition tells us that he did not sleep that night, but 
that rude sketches of instruments and the Morse 
alphabet of dots and dashes were worked out to the 
sound of the sea and the ship's bells. 

Although Morse was not a scientist, he was a practi- 
cal, intelligent man gripped by an idea ; and he deter- 
mined to devote his Hfe to its pursuit. He dropped his 
art entirely. He merely gave lessons to a few pupils 
in order to make enough money to live upon. His 
invention filled all his thoughts. He slept little so that 
he might have more time to devote to his work. He ate 



THE IN\^ENTION OF THE TELEGRAPH 



249 



but little, often living for days at a time upon crackers 
and tea. 

By 1835 Morse had a mile of telegraph wire wound 
round and round the walls of a good-sized room. In 
one corner was a small battery, in another corner a 
mysterious bit of clockwork. The results with this 
wire were most satisfactory. 

Then, for a number of years, came exhibits, — 
exhibits to friends, to scientific men in New York 
city, and to President Van Buren and his cabinet in 
Washington. 

Morse could not afford to show the telegraph on a 
grand scale. He must have aid from the government, 
and for that aid he worked on, year after year. Some- 
times his hopes were high ; more often he was deeply 
depressed. He was nearing the half-century mark; 
he was able to do but httle for his children ; he was very 
poor. Frequently he was faced with the question, 
''Am I playing the part of a madman in pursuing this 
Will o' the Wisp ? " Who could say ? 

But the quality wrought into the very fiber of his 
nature by the teachings of his father was still with him. 
He must persevere, let the outcome be what it might. 

1843 was a critical year for Morse. The House of 
Representatives had passed a bill appropriating $30,000 
for a trial of the telegraph. The Senate must confirm 
this action, or it would go for nought. 

It was the last session of the Senate for that vear. 



250 



SAMUEL F. B. :\10RSE 



The evening was growing late. There were one hun- 
dred and forty bills before ^Morse's. The poor man, 




Morse at work on his telegraph. 

hoping against hope, had sat all day in the gallery 
praying that the Senate might act favorably. 



THE IXVEXTIOX OF THE TELEGRAPH 251 

At last a kindly senator approached the mventor 
and laid his hand upon his shoulder. ''Go home, 
Morse," he said, ''there is no chance of action being 
taken upon your bill to-night." And Morse went. 
It is said that he determined to give up the struggle. 

The next morning, while he was at breakfast, a 
bright-faced young girl entered the room. 

"I have come to congratulate you, Mr. Morse, on the 
passage of your bill," she said. 

"You are mistaken. Miss Ellsworth. Nothing was 
done last night," said the inventor. 

"Ah, no, Mr. ]\Iorse, it is you who are mistaken," 
cried ]\Iiss Ellsworth, eagerly. ''Just before the Senate 
adjourned last night, it acted favorably upon your bill. 
Father was there, and he told me I might bring the good 
news to you this morning." Then and there the happy 
inventor promised ]Miss Ellsworth that she should send 
the first message over the completed wire. 

Thus it came to pass that on May 24, 1844, the first 
message that sped from Washington to Baltimore and 
was flashed back again over a circuit of eighty miles, 
was four words of Annie Ellsworth's choosing. "What 
hath God wrought?" was the message, a passage from 
the book of Numbers. 

It was with a happy face and a light heart that ]\Iorse 
sat at the Washington end of the ^^'ire spelling out this 
first message, while eager and congratulatory- friends 
thronged about him. He was much pleased ^^ith 



252 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE 

Annie Ellsworth's selection. " It baptized the American 
telegraph with the name of its Author," he said. 

Morse had no more dark and struggling days. Honors 
of all kinds came to him thick and fast. In 1858 a 
meeting was held of representatives from the chief 
powers in Europe who raised the sum of $80,000 in 
gold, as a gift to the great inventor. 

In America Morse was given the degree of LL.D. by 
Yale College. Funds were raised by the telegraph 
operators throughout the country, and a statue to the 
great inventor was erected in Central Park, New York. 

The evening of the day upon which the statue was 
unveiled, a brilliant reception was given Professor 
Morse in the Academy of Music. Upon a small table 
stood the first telegraph instrument ever used. This 
had been connected with every telegraph wire both at 
home and abroad, and the inventor was asked to send a 
message ''to the listening world." 

^' There was a moment's impressive silence. Then 
the click, click of the instrument was heard in the fare- 
well message of the father of the telegraph. 

'' ' Greeting and thanks to the telegraph fraternity 
throughout the world. Glory to God in the highest, 
on earth peace, goodwill toward men. 

" ' S. F. B. Morse.' 

" From the four corners of the globe came back the 
answers, each a blessing upon the man who had made 
all the peoples of the round earth to be as one." 



STIRRING TIMES IN THE SOUTHWEST 

The story of Texas and the way in which her liberty 
was achieved is one that links itself with many heroic 
lives. Two men who toiled and suffered most that 
Texas might be free were Samuel Houston and David 
Crockett. Both had known frontier life and had fought 
under Jackson ; both had been attracted to that "new, 
immense, unbounded world" of Texas, because it had 
seemed to offer larger opportunities for endeavor. 

Sam Houston was born in Virginia in 1793. When 
he was thirteen his father died, and his brave and 
steadfast mother guided her family of six sons and three 
daughters over the Allegheny Mountains to western 
Tennessee. Their new cabin was not far from the 
villages of the Cherokee Indians, with whom Sam was 
soon on most friendly terms. Whenever he was dis- 
contented with matters at home, he would run away to 
stay with the Indians. 

The boy's schooling was meager, yet certain favorite 
books, among them Pope's Iliad^ he read and reread. 
Later he entered the army and, with the rank of ensign, 
fought against the Creek Indians. Houston showed him- 
self as brave as a lion and won the warm approval and 
friendship of his commanding officer. General Jackson. 

253 



254 SAMUEL HOUSTON 

At the battle of Horseshoe Bend the Indians were 
firmly intrenched behind a strong stockade. The 
American troops were to charge these fortifications. 
Major Montgomery, the first man to leap upon the 
stockade, was shot dead. Ensign Houston took his 
place ; he stood there, poised for a moment ; then, with 
drawn sword, he leaped down among the Indians. He 
was promptly followed by his men, but he was wounded 
by an arrow in the thigh. The arrow was withdrawn, 
but the loss of blood that followed left Sam nearly 
helpless. 

After a time he was able to scramble over the breast- 
works and was on his way to a surgeon, when he met 
Jackson. The commander ordered the young man not 
to return to battle. Sam implored permission to fight 
again after his wound had been cared for, but Jackson 
was firm. 

Houston, however, disobeyed these orders. The 
distant sound of the fray was too much for him, and 
soon he was once more with his regiment in the hottest 
of the fight. 

Later in the day this young man of twenty proved 
his courage again. A band of fleeing Indians had 
hidden themselves in a deep ravine. This ravine was 
covered with logs, so that the only way to reach the foe 
was by a charge into the entrance. Jackson called for 
volunteers. The only one to respond was wounded 
Sam Houston who, seizing a musket with a shout for 




"With drawn sword, Houston leaped down among the Indians.' 



25s 



256 SAMUEL HOUSTON 

others to follow, ran to the mouth of the ravine. Since 
no other soldiers had joined in the rush, Houston re- 
ceived the entire discharge from the Indian guns. 
Fortunately but two balls struck him, one in his 
shoulder, the other in his arm. 

Turning, he walked away and, once out of range, fell 
helpless. General Jackson, however, never forgot that 
moment and never failed to stand by the plucky young 
fellow who alone had tried to carry out his wishes at 
Horseshoe Bend. Years after. President Jackson said 
of Houston, ''I thank God there is one man, at least, in 
Texas whom the Almighty had the making of, and not 
the tailors." 

The next fifteen years were very successful ones for 
Houston. In time he went to Congress, where he served 
his state and country for four years. At the age of 
thirty-four he became governor of Tennessee. He was 
most popular in his native state, and a brilliant career 
seemed assured. 

Suddenly everything was changed. Through a 
misunderstanding, the whole country turned against 
him. He resigned his governorship and took refuge 
with his old friends, the Indians. His prospects were 
ruined, and he knew it. The saddest fact was that he 
was blameless, but he could not establish that fact. 
Jackson, however, stood by his friend, and it is beheved 
that a secret commission from the President to discover 
certain facts with reference to Texas was what finally 



STIRRING TIMES IN THE SOUTHWEST 



257 



aroused him to take his place in the world of men once 
more. 

And now let us turn to Crockett. David Crockett 
was a man like Daniel Boone. Of large native intelli- 
gence, scanty education, honest purpose, sweet and 
generous heart, he was the type of man who is so taught 
by experience that he rises to places of large influence 
in the life of his community and of the state. Keen 
woodsman, stout Indian fighter, and upright magistrate, 
he was one of those followers of Andrew Jackson whom 
the popular tide swept into the Halls of Congress, 
when it carried their leader himself to the White House. 

Crockett lost his seat in Congress after a while. 
Thereupon he decided to fight for the cause of liberty in 
Texas. So to Texas he went in 1834, with his beloved 
rifle ''Betsey" slung over his shoulder. 

Mexico and Texas were Spanish possessions, far from 
content with the rule of the mother country. A body 
of immigrants from the United States had settled in 
eastern Texas. These foreigners were at first regarded 
with disfavor by the natives, but when they fought 
side by side with the Mexicans to free the country from 
Spain, the feeling changed. But this was not for long. 

The Mexican government, at first liberal, became 
harsh and unreasonable. One dictator after another 
sprang into power ; unjust laws were passed. The 
Americans protested, but slight notice was taken of their 
action ; they were not represented in the government. 

COE M. — 17 



258 DAVID CROCKETT 

It was the story of the Revolution again. The 
American settlers, by this time greatly increased in 
numbers, strove first for the repeal of the unjust laws. 
Later they declared themselves independent of Mexico. 
Fighting began in October, 1835. Certain towns had 
been garrisoned by the Mexicans. The Texans at- 
tacked these stations, and by December 14th there 
was hardly a Mexican left in Texas. 

Austin, a man to whom Texas owes much, was the 
commander in chief of the Texan forces. Houston had 
charge of military matters in the eastern part of the 
state. Houston foretold the return of the Mexicans 
with the ''rise of the grass" in spring. Certain out- 
lying posts were held by small bands of Texans. Hous- 
ton urged that these places be abandoned, as they 
could not be defended, but no attention was paid to 
his words. 

One exposed station was San Antonio. The fortress 
of the to\Mi was an old Franciscan mission of the early 
eighteenth century, surrounded by a wall eight feet 
high and three feet thick. Upon the wall were mounted 
fourteen cannons. The fort covered three acres, and at 
least one thousand men were necessary for its defense. 
Within, however, there were but one hundred and fifty 
Texans commanded by Colonel Tra\'is, a gallant young 
officer of twenty-eight. Colonel Bowie was Travis's 
senior officer, but he was ill in the hospital. Our old 
friend David Crockett was second in command. 



STIRRING TIMES IN THE SOUTHWEST 259 

On February 23, 1836, the enemy appeared, led by 
General Santa Anna. He demanded the surrender of 
the fort; Travis replied with a cannon shot. Santa 
Anna ran up a blood-red flag to signify no quarter, and 
the siege began. There were four thousand Mexicans, 
well armed and equipped with hea\y artillery. 

Santa Anna maintained a bombardment for a number 
of days, and, on March 6, decided to storm. At five 
o'clock in the morning the mission was attacked on 
three sides. There were twenty-five hundred against 
one hundred and fifty, yet from the north, east, and 
west sides of the Alamo, the Mexicans fled before the 
hot defense of Travis's little band. A brief respite, and 
once again they came, to be repulsed for the second tirrie 
with heavy slaughter. But the hundred and fifty could 
not be everywhere at once. Santa Anna saw that the 
west wall was, for a moment, undefended. His third 
charge was directed there and met with success. The 
Mexicans burst into the courtyard of the Alamo, and 
the defenders, fighting desperately, were surrounded by 
fire and steel. Some of them rallied in the hospital 
where Bowie lay. Others followed Crockett, now in 
chief command, to the yard, to die with him there. 

"The only fight left now is in the churchyard. A 
little handful, bloody, powder-stained, desperate, are 
backed up against the wall. Hope is lost, but they are 
dying in high fashion, faces to the foe, striking while 
they have a heart-beat left. • 'Fire the magazine,' says 



26o 



DAVID CROCKETT 



Crockett to Major Evans, the only remaining officer. 
The man runs toward the church where the powder is 
stored, and is stricken down on the threshold. The 
Mexicans rush upon Crockett and his remnant. The 




Crockett at bay. 

keen, death-dealing 'Betsey' has spoken for the last 
time ; the old frontiersman has it clasped by the barrel 
now. Swinging this iron war club he stands at bay, 
disdaining surrender. The Mexicans are piled before 
him in heaps, but numbers tell. They swarm about 
him ; they leap upon him like hounds upon a great 



STIRRING TIMES IN THE SOUTHWEST 261 

stag ; they pull him down, and bury their bayonets in 
his great heart, — so he makes a fine end. 

''Wherever men live to love the hero, these will not 
be forgotten. Their sacrifice had not been in vain, 
for the cry that swept Texas to freedom, that drove the 
Mexican beyond the Rio Grande, was ^Remember the 
Alamo ! ' 

"For pure heroism this defense of the Alamo, may be 
likened to the sacrifice of Leonidas and his three hun- 
dred at Thermopylae. To-day a monument to these 
brave Texan dead stands on the former site of the old 
Franciscan convent. It bears these words that linger 
long in the mind : ' Thermopylae had her messenger of 
defeat; the Alamo had none.'"^ 

Soon after the fall of the Alamo, the Texans suffered 
another crushing defeat. Santa Anna believed that 
now Texas was conquered. Houston had, at this time, 
less than a thousand soldiers. It would have been 
folly to seek an engagement. Instead, with wonderful 
sagacity, he retreated. 

The Texan retreat convinced Santa Anna that his 
enemy's cause was lost. He divided his army into three 
bands, sending them in different directions. This move 
was exactly what Houston had desired. The odds now 
were not hopelessly against him, so far as numbers were 
concerned. Moreover, if he could capture Santa Anna, 
he could dictate terms. 

^ Quoted from McClure's Magazine, January, 1902. 



262 DAVID CROCKETT 

The foes came face to face at San Jacinto. Houston 
decided upon a sudden attack. That the men might 
fight with the courage of desperation, he decided to 
destroy the only means of retreat, a wooden bridge. 
Two men, one of whom was the famous scout, Deaf 
Smith, were secretly sent with axes to accomplish this 
task. 

At four o'clock the Texan band began to play ''Will 
you come to the bower I have builded for you?" 
The troops were starting upon their rush across the 
plain when Deaf Smith galloped upon the field. '' Fight 
for your lives!" he roared. "Vince's bridge is cut 
down !" Houston on horseback led the furious charge, 
shouting to the men to withhold their fire. "Remem- 
ber the Alamo! Remember the Alamo!" was the 
passionate cry with which they fell upon the foe. The 
Mexicans did their best, but who could withstand such 
foemen ? Revenge fired the Texan band to a white 
heat, as they fell upon the murderers of Travis, Bowie, 
and David Crockett. " Me no Alamo ! me no Alamo! " 
pleaded many a Mexican on that day of reckoning, but 
he spoke to pitiless ears. 

It was all over in twenty minutes. The patriots had 
nine men killed and twenty-three wounded. The 
Mexicans had six hundred and twenty- three killed and 
wounded. Best of all, Santa Anna, the commanding 
general and Mexican president, was a prisoner. 

At one blow the fetters were struck from Texas, the 



STIRRING TIMES IN THE SOUTHWEST 263 

Mexican banner retreated beyond the Rio Grande, and 
the way was opened for American progress towards the 
South. 

One word further in regard to Sam Houston. This 
great victory made him the leading man in Texas. He 
became the president of the Lone Star Republic. He 
directed her policy most wisely until, in 1845, his great 
hope was realized, — Texas became a part of the United 
States. 

There was trouble with Mexico over the boundary 
line, and the Mexican War was the result. When peace 
was declared, the United States had gained additional 
territory equal to one third its possessions at that time. 
Much of the glory of bringing that great gift to his 
beloved country is due to brave, honest, big-hearted, 
outspoken Sam Houston. 



FREMONT, THE PATHFINDER, AND HIS 
GUIDE, KIT CARSON 

"Though the pathfinders die, the paths remain open." 

Thirty years after Lewis and Clark had made their 
great expedition to the Pacific coast, another young man 
penetrated the unknown West. He was John Charles 
Fremont, and he went not once but many times. His 
purpose was to find the best routes for settlers from the 
East. He was to map out the rivers, discover the passes 
over the mountains, choose sites for forts, and make 
notes of the soil, the plants, the animals, and the roving 
tribes of Indians. At first, Fremont was sent by the 
government ; later he chose to go for himself. Fre- 
mont's adventures were many and thrilling ; and in one 
expedition he helped to make history in a very remark- 
able way, as we shall see. 

Fremont was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1813. 
At the age of twenty-four he went on his first western 
expedition, under an experienced explorer, named 
Nicollet. Fremont was an excellent surveyor and 
mathematician and was most useful to Nicollet. He 
was a fine rider and a good hunter ; and he made him- 
self invaluable, so that Nicollet asked him to go on a 
second expedition, the following year. 

264 



THE PATHFINDER AND HIS GUIDE 



265 



i 



At this time the United States government wished 
to find the best overland route to the Pacific Ocean. 
Emigrants were eager to go, and the government 
should be able to direct them properly. Fremont 
was asked to lead an exploring party to the South Pass, 
Wyoming. The band of adventurers left St. Louis 




Emigrants to the West. 

by steamer ; and, on this steamer, it is said, Fremont 
was so fortunate as to meet Kit Carson and to engage 
him as guide. 

Christopher Carson was a little, gentle, blue-eyed 
man, four years older than Fremont. He was a grand- 
son of Daniel Boone and he was more than a ''chip 
of the old block, he was the old block itself." For 
sixteen years he had been going over the trails of the 



266 FREMONT -\XD KIT CARSON 

fur trappers in the western wilderness, as teamster, 
guide, trapper, and hunter. Brave as a Hon, he had 
fought countless times ^^'ith savage men and beasts 
and come off the \-ictor. Though very quiet of manner, 
he had a " forcefulness and self-confidence that sooner 
or later was bound to impress itself upon others.'' 
The meeting was indeed a happy one for Fremont. 

The first government expedition was successfully 
accomplished in five months' time. Perhaps the most 
striking event in the trip was the ascent by members 
of the party of the loftiest peak of the Wind River 
Mountains, kno^^Tl to-day as Fremont's Peak. 

The follo^^-ing year a greater undertaking was asked 
of Fremont by the government. He was to explore 
the imlcnown country- between the Rocky ^lountains 
and the Pacific. 

California was a province of ^lexico. The inhabit- 
ants had formerly consisted of Spaniards, Mexicans, 
and Indians, but of recent years there had been several 
thousand emigrants from the United States. It was 
believed that ^Mexico would be unable long to retain 
California. The pro\ince was held by the shghtest 
of bonds. The important question was, into whose 
hands she would fall, once the ^Mexican tie was broken. 
The United States had a powerful rival in England, 
who you must remember o\\Tied great stretches of 
countr>^ in the far Northwest. 

Texas had won her freedom in 1836. California 



THE PATHFINDER AXD HIS GODE 



267 




Fremont's party toiling over the mountains. 



might soon follow in her steps. It seemed to the 
government wise to gather all possible facts concerning 
the topography of this coveted pro\'ince. 

It was the part of the route through Mexican terri- 
torv^ that proved well-nigh fatal to the party. The 
outward route was well-known ground to Carson. 
But when they turned into California, he informed 
Fremont that the trails were strange to him. Never- 
theless he pressed on, ser\'ing the party as best he 
could. 

The snows caught them, lost, bewildered, far from 
any camp or homely shelter. A lofty mountain range, 
the Sierra Xevada, lav between them and the settle- 



268 FREMONT AND KIT CARSON 

ments of men. Fremont decided to cross these moun- 
tains in the dead of winter. For this choice he has 
been much criticized. 

The Indians did not approve. When he asked them 
for a guide, they raised their hands to their necks and 
even above their heads to show the depths of the snow. 
They shut their eyes and shook their heads to show 
the nameless terrors of the trail. Finally one young 
Indian, dazzled by the splendor of a blanket, a gift 
from Fremont, agreed to lead the anxious party. 

Day after day the journey continued. The cold 
grew more intense ; to make matters worse, the food 
gave out, and they were forced to eat the leather of 
their saddles. 

At last the Indian guide gave up in despair. He 
threw his dearly won blanket over his head and wept 
aloud. Despair was filling all hearts, when Carson 
returned from a reconnoiter with good news. He had, 
at last, recognized landmarks. All they had to do 
was to press on with new courage and soon they would 
find the valley they sought. Days of agony followed, 
but on March 6, 1844, they reached Sutter's Fort. 
It was Carson who had saved the lives of those who had 
won through. 

The explorers returned homeward by the old Spanish 
trail to Santa Fe. Between September, 1843, ^-nd May, 
1844, they had made a circuit of 3500 miles. More 
authentic maps could now be made of the far West. 



THE PATHFINDER AND HIS GUIDE 269 

The government next asked the pathfinder to dis- 
cover, on a third expedition, a more direct route from 
the United States across the Great Basin and the 
Sierra Nevada. In time the task was accompHshed, 
and the Httle party came out upon the Pacific coast. 
Fremont asked the Mexican authorities at Monterey 
for permission to rest and refit. The request was 
promptly granted. In a short time the attitude of 
the Mexicans changed completely. They sent mes- 
sages ordering the Americans to leave Mexican terri- 
tory at once. 

As a matter of fact, hostilities were beginning be- 
tween the United States and Mexico, but this Fremont 
did not know. No news from the East had reached 
him for eleven long months. His position was one of 
great peril. 

He marched northward towards the American 
settlements in the valley of the Sacramento. Here 
he could cooperate with the settlers in case, at this 
time, they should choose to rise against Mexico. 

On the march they were met by Captain Gillespie, 
who had ridden a great distance to bring news 
from Washington to Fremont. The United States 
was on the point of going to war mth Mexico. Fre- 
mont was to discover the wishes of the American 
settlers in California and to unite \viih them if they 
chose, at this time, to free themselves from Mexico. 
There was the grave possibility of England's stepping 



270 



FREMONT AND KIT CARSON 



in ; foreign warships might enter the ports of Cali- 
fornia. That, however, might be arrested, if the 
settlers acted promptly. 

What followed in California may be very briefly 
told. The American settlers arose and declared their 
freedom from Mexico. Fremont united his force with 
theirs. They fought a number of skirmishes with the 
Mexicans and were victorious. Twice the United 
States fleet cooperated with Fremont. 

Fremont sent Carson with dispatches all the way 
to Washington, so that the government might know 
the progress of affairs in California. The long journey 




SCALE OF MILES 

5 100 260 



Country ceded to the United States at the close of 
the Mexican War. 

of four thousand miles, from Cahfornia to Washington, 
he made in three months. There were dangers from 
mountain and flood ; there were strange tribes of In- 



THE PATHFINDER AND HIS GUIDE 



271 



dians to fight; but the dauntless little man never 
wavered in resolution as he rode, swam, and fought 
his way across the vast unknown stretches of our land. 

At the close of the Mexican War, there were added 
to the United States Upper California and an enor- 
mous tract of land, out of which Nevada, Utah, Arizona, 
part of Colorado, and New Mexico were formed. Our 
government paid Mexico the sum of fifteen million 
dollars as indemnity. 

Later in life Fremont served for a brief time in the 
Civil War and was a candidate for the presidency. 
His character was a noble one and has been summed 
up by one of his friends in these words : ''He was the 
knightliest soul and the truest gentleman I ever met." 

During the later years of his life Kit Carson was a 
trusted Indian agent in New Mexico. His tact, his 
wisdom, and his great sympathy with the redmen in 
his care rendered his services invaluable. He too was 
''one of nature's noblemen, pure, honorable, truthful, 
and sincere." 



WONDERFUL NEWS FROM THE FRONTIER 

One of the early posts, or settlements, in California 
was that of John A. Sutter. You remember that, after 
Fremont and his followers had made their winter 
crossing of the Sierra Nevada, it was at Sutter's Fort 
that they found refuge. That fort was near the spot 
where Sacramento stands to-day. 

Sutter was an ambitious man, always anxious to 
improve his holding. In 1847 he decided to build a 
flour mill. For this he would need timber, and so the 
first step of all seemed to be the erection of a sawmill. 
This building must, of course, be close to the forests, 
so a small party of men, led by an American wheel- 
wright, named Marshall, were sent up the valley of 
the Sacramento. A suitable location was found on a 
mountain stream, called the American River. In Jan- 
uary, 1848, the sawmill was finished. 

To test the working of the mill, water was turned 
through the mill race all one night. In the morning 
Marshall saw, in the bed of the race, gleaming bits 
of metal the size of grains of wheat. He picked them 
up and told the workmen that he had found gold. 
The men laughed, but Marshall galloped forty-five 
miles down the valley to confer with Sutter. Sutter, 

272 



GOLD DISCOVERED! 



273 



with Marshall, appHed the proper tests. The speci- 
mens were hammered and proved malleable. Tested 
with acid, they reacted as did gold. A careful esti- 
mate of the weight gave the specific gravity of gold. 

''It must be gold !" at last cried Sutter, and he and 
Marshall stared at each other in amazement. What 
wealth there might be along the banks 
of the Sacramento River, who could 
say ! Sutter wished to keep the dis- 
covery a secret. 




The discovery of gold at Sutter's mill. 

but that was, of course, impossible. At once the 
workmen deserted the sawmill to seek their fortunes 
along the river banks. 

One day a horseman rode through the streets of 
San Francisco waving a bottle of gold dust. "Gold! 
Gold ! Gold ! from the American River !" he shouted. 



COE M. 18 



274 



NEWS FRO:\I THE FRONTIER 



The sight of the coveted metal was enough. All 
San Francisco caught the gold fever and hastened to 
the diggings. The churches were closed ; the sick 
were untended ; the law courts held no sessions ; the 
newspapers ceased publication; houses were left half 
built ; and fields were left half tilled, for ministers, 
doctors, lawyers, printers, carpenters, and farmers 
had hastened to the American River. There on their 

knees they were digging up 

the soil and rocking it from 

side to side in pans of water, 

hoping to make a fortune in 

a few weeks. Boundless 

wealth was certainly here, 

and those first on the spot 

had the greater chance. 

In the fall of 1848 the news reached the East. Then 

came the rush to California from the Atlantic coast 

and the Mississippi valley, as it had come before from 

the Pacific slope. 

There were three main routes, — two by sea and 
one by land. Travelers might go around Cape Horn, 
making all the journey by sea. They could take boat 
to Mexico, Nicaragua, or the Isthmus of Panama, 
cross the country, and then take a steamer on the 
Pacific coast to California. The third route was to 
cross the continent in wagons drawn by oxen. 

Those who went on the overland route suffered most. 




Gold! Gold! Gold! 



GOLD DISCOVERED! 



275 




This was the cheapest way of going, and a good num- 
ber started with poor cattle, scanty food, and utter ig- 
norance of the route. Many had no idea of the great 
width of our country, of its arid plains, nor of the 
mountains to be crossed. WTiole families migrated 
in this way. 

The ''prairie schooners," as the wagons were called, 
were hea\y, lumbering affairs, roofed over ^Yiih canvas. 
They were dra^^Ti 
by oxen or horses. 
In a long line these 
"schooners" made 
their slow progress 
over the prairie. 
At one place on 
the road a count 
was made of those 
passing westward. 
Twenty thousand 
persons and sixty 

thousand animals was the amazing record of 
summer of '49 ! 

The early miners worked along the beds and banks 
of the Sacramento River and its tributaries. "Placer 
mining" this was called. The later arrivals sought 
gold in pockets or in quartz veins among the moun- 
tains. By the first method the gold was washed out ; 
by the latter method, it was crushed out. Some- 



;ym-!-yttzJI 




Interior of a "prairie schooner. 



that 



276 NEWS FROM THE FRONTIER 

times as much as forty dollars' worth of nuggets would 
be found in a panful of mud. The nuggets often were 
as large as an acorn or even a walnut.. Sometimes 
miners made as much as five hundred dollars a day. 

Because all the world went a-mining, high prices 
were set upon articles of food and other necessities. 
There were crowds to be fed and very few farmers 
at work. Consequently potatoes, onions, and eggs 
were sold at one dollar apiece. A chicken brought 
sixteen dollars. At the outfitter's store a shirt cost 
fifty dollars ; a pair of high boots, fifty-eight dollars ; 
and a Colt's revolver, worth in New York about twenty 
dollars, cost from one hundred twenty-five to one 
hundred fifty dollars. A candle was valued at three 
dollars ; washing was eight dollars for a dozen pieces ; 
while one hundred dollars w^as the doctor's fee for a 
single visit. 

In less than a year San Francisco had grown from 
a village to a large and prosperous city. Sacramento 
^Iso had had a mushroom growth. In 1848 there 
was no such place; in 1849 there was a thoroughly 
wide-awake and flourishing town. A short time 
after the great discovery at Sutter's mill, the population 
of California had risen to 250,000 persons. In the 
seven years from 1849 to 1856, the golden harvest 
was estimated at nearly $500,000,000. 

All types of men were herded together at the diggings. 
Desperadoes gathered with deacons and "mothers' 



GOLD DISCOVERED! 



277 



darlings" about the camp fires. Good men and bad 
men handled the pick side by side. Many Httle in- 
cidents show the unspeakable loneliness of these ad- 
venturers, — of their constant longing for the dear 
ones at home. Once a man with his wife and baby 
attended the simple church service. The baby cried, 







An early view of San Francisco. 

and the mother arose to carry it away. "^My good 
woman ! ' said the preacher, ' I beg you to remain ; 
the innocent sound of that infant's voice is more elo- 
quent than any words I can command. It speaks to 
the hearts of men whose wives and children are far 
away, looking and praying for a safe return to their 
own loved ones at home.' These words brought sobs 
and tears throughout that rough assembly. That 
infant's cry seemed to them the music of angels." 



SPANISH MISSIONS IN THE SOUTHWEST 

The three decades from 1769 to 1799 were important 
ones on both coasts of our great country. On the eastern 
coast, the colonists were fully occupied in establishing 
an independent republic. On the Pacific coast, the Span- 
iards were creating missions and drawing under the pro- 
tecting guidance of the church the Indians of California. 

The Jesuits were among the first in the field. By 
their eloquent appeals, as they journeyed from place 
to place, they collected a large amount of money. 
With- this sum they estabhshed Indian missions, first 
of all in the Peninsula of California, Lower California 
as it was called. 

Nearly one hundred years later the work crossed 
the border into Upper California. The order of Fran- 
ciscans carried the cross to San Francisco Bay, under 
the leadership of a frail, middle-aged monk named 
Junipero Serra. Father Junipero had a heart of fire ; 
he was ready to spend and be spent in the service of 
God and of his red brother, the Indian. 

In 1767 the King of Spain wished the work of ex- 
tending the Spanish empire and christianizing the 
Indians to begin. It was decided to establish missions 
at San Diego and at Monterey. 

278 



SPANISH MISSIONS IN THE SOUTHWEST 279 



Four expeditions were prepared. Two were to go 
by land and two by sea. Notwithstanding his lame- 
ness, Father Junipero started on the long overland 
journey. On July i, 1769, he and his party reached 







"Father Junipero inaugurated the mission." 

San Diego, where the expeditions that had been sent 
by sea were awaiting them. Then followed busy days. 
The vessel San Antonio was to return for provisions, 
while two thirds of the able-bodied men were to move 
northward to Monterey. Father Junipero was to 
remain to establish the mission at San Diego. 

On Sunday, July i6th, two days after the company 
separated. Father Junipero inaugurated the mission. 
Sweet-toned mission bells were suspended from a 
tree, and as their chimes rang out upon the summer 



28o 



JUNIPERO SERRA 



air, all the little party flocked to the spot where stood 
the father before a great cross which had been erected. 
Hymns of praise were sung, prayers were offered, 
and muskets were fired to the tolHng of bells, to tell to 
all that the first Christian mission in California was 
established. 

The exploring party to the northward did not meet 
with full success. They reached Monterey, but failed 

to recognize either the bay or 
the surrounding landmarks. 
They continued their journey 
farther northward, however, 
and reached the beautiful land- 
locked San Francisco Bay. 

Between the years 1769 and 
1798 twenty-one missions were 
planted along the Pacific slope 
of California. 
San Gabriel Mission. ^j^^ mission began as a tra- 

ditional mustard seed which soon grew to giant propor- 
tions. Two priests, half a dozen soldiers, a few converts, 
a chime of bells, a dozen cattle, horses and sheep, a 
parcel of cuttings of trees and vines, — these consti- 
tuted the raw materials of the missions. After ten 
years' time what was to be found ? 

A church of stately and commanding proportions, 
commodious convent buildings, wide courtyards, shops, 
and small but comfortable homes for the famihes of 




SPANISH MISSIONS IN THE SOUTHWEST 281 

Christian Indians had sprung up as if by magic. The 
flocks were numbered by thousands. The silver-leaved 
olive orchards, the golden-fruited orange groves, the ar- 
cades upon arcades of purple-clustered vines, all tes- 
tified to the skillful culture of the fathers and the 
Indian gardeners they had trained. 

The days of the Indians were carefully planned by 
the director of the mission. Very early in the morn- 
ing the bells called all into the church for prayers. 
Then followed a simple breakfast of porridge and tor- 
tillas, a thin, flat cake of flour baked upon a flat stone. 
After breakfast the men scattered to the fields, orchards, 
vineyards, brickkilns, and shops. Dinner was at noon 
and was followed by a couple of hours for rest, so nec- 
essary in a warm climate. At two, the Indians returned 
to work and labored till an hour before sunset. At the 
angelus hour the bells summoned the toilers to evening 
prayer. Supper followed, and then the Indians amused 
themselves with games, simple music, and dancing. 

It was a quiet, wholesome life. The red man ac- 
cepted the Christian faith and committed himself to 
the guidance of the good priests with docility. He 
loved and clung to the father with childlike devotion. 

In 1833 the Mexican government decided that the 
mission centers were to be dissolved. While the 
fathers went elsewhere, each Indian was to have his 
own plot of land and prove his power to support him- 
self as a good Mexican citizen. 



282 JUNIPERO SERRA 

But the Indians, so industrious and docile under 
the guidance of the good priests, were, as yet, incapable 
of self-direction. They drank; they gambled; they 
lost their money and lands to shrewder people. They 
returned at last to the wild life of their fathers. But 
wherever scattered, through good and ill fortune, they 
kept the faith in which they had been trained by the 
mission fathers. The labors of Father Junipero and 
his friends had borne good fruit. 



DANIEL WEBSTER, THE GREATEST ORATOR 
OF AMERICA 

Daniel Webster was born in Salisbury, New 
Hampshire, on January i8, 1782. His home was poor, 
so far as bodily comforts were concerned, but rich in 
love and self-sacrifice. 

Ebenezer Webster had been blessed with ten chil- 
dren, five sons and five daughters. The ninth child 
and youngest son was Daniel. All the boys were 
expected to work on the farm, but because Daniel 
was the youngest and the weakest his father demanded 
very little of him. Consequently the boy had much 
time for reading, fishing, and roaming about through 
fields and woods. 

He never remembered learning to read. At a very 
early age he used to read with fluency and charm. 
Farmers and workmen, passing by the farmhouse, 
would sometimes pause and ask "Webster's boy" to 
read to them. The child was dark, with wonderfully 
brilliant black eyes, and a very beautiful voice. His 
selections were always from the Bible, and he read with 
a dramatic power that held his hearers spellbound. As 
they rode away, they would often mutter to each other 
that Dan would be a great man some time. 

283 



284 



DANIEL WEBSTER 



One day in the haying field Judge Webster opened 
his heart to his boy. He told him that he had felt 
the lack of an education all his life. Had he been sent 
to school and college, in his youth, he believed that 
he would have been among the leading men in New 

Hampshire that day. 
Instead, he was only 
a poor farmer. But 
what he could do 
to give his son this 
priceless gift he 
should do. Daniel 
was to have some 
months at Exeter 
Academy. 

The boy was over- 
joyed at the news. 
He determined to 
do his very best, for 
his father's simple, 
manly words had 
gone straight to his 
heart. 

Daniel Webster entered Dartmouth College in 1797 

and was graduated four years later. He studied with 

diligence and spoke before his fellow students with ease. 

In 1804 he went to Boston to read law in the office 

of Christopher Gore, an eminent lawyer who was, later, 




"Webster's boy" reading to the farmers. 



THE GREATEST ORATOR OF AMERICA 285 

governor of Massachusetts. Thirteen years later 
Webster was one of the leading la\vyers in Boston, 
earning twenty thousand dollars a year in fees. The 
old father had been in his grave for ten years, and 
Daniel had never been able to do much towards mak- 
ing those last years ones of comfort and ease. Ebe- 
nezer Webster, however, would have gloried in the great 
gift that he gave to his beloved country, for his son 
Daniel became a great lawyer and statesman, and 
the greatest orator we have ever had in America. 

Much of Webster's power was due to his impressive 
appearance. A man who knew him well thus describes 
him: ''He was a dark, raven-haired fellow, with an 
eye as black as death is, and as heay>^ as a lion's, — 
that heavy look, not sleepy, but as if he didn't care 
about anything that was going on about him or any- 
thing anywhere else. He didn't look as if he was 
thinking about anything, but as if he would think like 
a hurricane if he once got waked up to it. They say 
the lion looks so when he is quiet." 

An English navvy who once saw Mr. Webster on 
the street in Liverpool pointed him out with the words, 
"There goes a king !" 

Daniel Webster was in political life for nearly thirty 
years. He served seven years in Congress, nineteen 
years in the Senate, and five years as Secretary of State. 

As Secretary of State, his most noted act was the 
negotiating of the Ashburton Treaty with England. 



286 DANIEL WEBSTER 

This settled the northeastern boundary of the United 
States, which had been a disputed question since the 
war of the Revolution. Other grievances against 
England were considered and settled by this treaty, 
which has been called "one of the most creditable 
negotiations in which the United States was ever 
engaged." Henry Cabot Lodge says that ''with the 
exception of John Quincy Adams, no one has ever 
shown higher qualities or attained greater success in 
the administration of the State Department than Mr. 
Webster while in Tyler's Cabinet." 

Twice Mr. Webster was a candidate for President, 
but he never secured the nomination. For twenty 
years he hoped for the great prize, but it always eluded 
him. He was not popular. Men held him too much in 
awe. While other candidates were nicknamed ''Old 
Hickory," "Tippecanoe," and "Rough and Ready," he 
was always the " Honorable Daniel Webster." 

As a statesman, Webster made masterly speeches 
»in both the House and the Senate, so that it now 
remains for us to consider him as an orator. 

Webster's speeches can be divided into two classes, 
— those made in Congress and those made outside. 
To the second class belong the Plymouth Oration, the 
two Bunker Hill Orations, and the Eulogy on Adams 
and Jefferson. 

The aged John Adams, a noble speaker himself, 
and one who had heard the greatest orators of England, 



THE GREATEST ORATOR OF AMERICA 



287 



wrote to Webster in regard to the Plymouth speech as 
follows : "This oration will be read five hundred years 
hence with as much rapture as it was heard. It ought 
to be read at the end of every century, and indeed at 
the end of every year, forever and ever." He also 
added, '' If there be 
an American who 
can read it with- 
out tears, I am not 
that American." 

In the Eulogy on 
Adams and Jeffer- 
son, delivered in 
1826, appears the 
well-known speech 
supposed to have 
been made in In- 
dependence Hall 
by Adams. One of 
its famous passages 

runs as follows: Daniel Webster. 

"Sink or swim, 

live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my 
heart to this vote." Through wonderful sympathy 
Webster had entered into the very mind and soul of 
the ardent, forceful John Adams. 

Of scores and scores of speeches made in Congress, 
two stand out as preeminently first. They are the 




288 DANIEL WEBSTER 

second Reply to Hayne and the Seventh of March 
Speech. 

The Reply was made in 1830, when Daniel Webster 
was still in middle life at the very height of his powers. 
The question was on the Constitution. The South, 
headed by John C. Calhoun and General Hayne of 
South Carolina, declared it to be a compact of the states, 
from which each state could at any time withdraw. 
The North thought otherwise. It believed that, what- 
ever the Constitution might have been in 1787, the 
states had become welded together into a nation, an 
empire, an indivisible whole. This belief was in the 
air of the North, but it had not been expressed. That 
noble task was Webster's. 

Hayne had been declaring the right of each state 
to judge for itself whether laws made by the gov- 
ernment were binding upon it. ''It is a critical 
moment," said Mr. Bell of New Hampshire to Mr. 
Webster, "and it is time, it is high time that the people 
of this country should know what this Constitution 
is." ''Then," replied Mr. Webster, "by the blessing 
of heaven they shall learn, this day, before the sun 
goes down, what I understand it to be." 

They did learn. How thrilling it must have been 
to hear fall from the lips of the great Defender those 
noble passages which schoolboy declaimers through 
the length and breadth of the land have taught 
us to know sp well! "Union and Liberty, now and 



THE GREATEST ORATOR OF AMERICA 289 

forever, one and inseparable." These words ''became 
wisdom to Lincoln and valor to Grant ... and in- 
spired deeds of immortal heroism on a hundred fields." 
The Seventh of March Speech seems, to a large num- 
ber of Webster's admirers, the great mistake of his life. 




Daniel Webster's home in Marshfield. 

From the time when Texas had sought admission to 
the Union, the question of slavery had been to the fore. 
Discussion had waxed warm between the North and 
the South. Measure after measure had been intro- 
duced. Finally Henry Clay, one of the great leaders 
of the time, introduced the Compromise Bill of 1850. 
This was practically a surrender to the South by the 

COE M. 19 



290 DANIEL WEBSTER 

North. One of its measures gave slave owners power 
to claim the return of their negroes who might have 
escaped to free soil. This clause aroused the opposi- 
tion of the antislavery party. 

Then, to the amazement of his supporters at the 
North, the great Daniel Webster, who had again and 
again spoken against slavery, arose and advocated 
Clay's bill. Many of his warmest friends were too 
overwhelmed for words. By this speech he had broken 
with his past and with all his early principles. Was 
it the longing for the presidency that had made him 
so untrue ? Who can say ? 

Judged by the most lenient point of view, Webster 
was making a most desperate effort to save the Union. 
"His speech was a powerful effort to arrest the anti- 
slavery movement. It was a mad project, for nothing 
could kill the principle of human liberty, not even a 
speech by Daniel Webster." 

Lodge says, ''If the Seventh of March Speech was 
right, then all that had gone before was false and 
wrong. . . . Webster knew in his heart and conscience 
that he had made a dreadful mistake." 

Daniel Webster died at his home in Marshfield in 
the fall of 1852. ''His fame is high and sure in the 
story of America." His name, as a speaker, is linked 
forever with the greatest masters of speech, with 
Demosthenes and Cicero, with Chatham and Burke. 



JOHN C. CALHOUN, THE GREAT NULLIFIER 

"From 1830 to the day of his death, Calhoun may be called 
the very impersonation of the slavery question." 

The years between 1830 and 1852 were wonderful 
ones in the history of our nation. Burning questions 
were being considered and men of extraordinary ability 
were in Congress to discuss and settle them. "There 
were giants in those days," for Webster, Clay, and 
Calhoun each spent nearly forty years of his life in 
Washington; Sometimes they united to make a law ; 
more often they opposed one another. Then wonderful 
eloquence was shown on both sides, for all these men 
were most able speakers. 

Very little is known of the private life of Calhoun. 
He was born in South Carolina in 1782, the same year 
as Daniel Webster. 

At twenty John C. Calhoun entered the junior 
class at Yale College ; at twenty-two he was graduated ; 
at twenty-five he was beginning to practice law in his 
native state ; at twenty-seven he was in the state 
legislature ; and at twenty-nine he was in Washington. 
South Carolina had elected him to be one of her repre- 
sentatives in Congress. 

All predicted for the young man a noble career. He 

291 



292 



JOHN C. CALHOUN 



was so clear of mind, so able in speech, so strong and 
pure of purpose that men much older than he accepted 
him, from the first, as a leader. 

What was his appearance ? He was tall and slight, 
with keen eyes that shone with great brilliancy. His 




An early view or ■i.-.-ip ' .Hioue. 

manner was always courteous and his voice was beau- 
tiful. Very early in his career, he became the idol 
of his state. Many who did not understand his ar- 
guments were ready to vote as he wished, simply be- 
cause they knew and loved the man and believed in 
his patriotism as they believed in all that was best in 
their own souls. 

During his earlier years in Congress, Calhoun always 
supported the measures that were for the best good 



THE GREAT NULLIFIER 293 

of the country as a whole. In regard to national 
roadSj banks, and the tariff no views could be wiser, 
nobler, or more patriotic than John C. Calhoun's. 
He was "the chief champion of some of the most 
national measures" voted at this time. 

You remember what was said in the last chapter in 
regard to the opinion that Calhoun had of the Con- 
stitution. He thought that the states had made a 
compact from which any one of them could withdraw 
at any time. Such an act would be secession. Daniel 
Webster declared that the national government was 
not a compact, but a Union which no state had the 
right to leave. 

Soon after the Hayne-Webster debate. South Caro- 
lina was much dissatisfied with the United States 
tariff. It was most oppressive all through the South. 
Under the leadership of Calhoun, South Carolina 
passed a nullification act. This act declared that the 
United States tariff laws were to be of no effect in 
South Carolina after February i, 1833. If the United 
States government should force them upon the state 
she would secede. This was in November, 1832. 

On December nth, 1832, President Jackson issued 
his famous proclamation to the people of South Caro- 
lina. "It was full of fire and vigor. It was at once 
strong, reasonable, and gentle. 'The laws of the 
United States must be executed,' he said. ^ Those 
who told you that you might peaceably prevent their 



294 



JOHN C. CALHOUN 



execution deceived you. . . . Their object is dis- 
union, and disunion by armed force is treason.' The 
people of the United States owe Jackson a deep debt 
of gratitude. His name — a name of power for many 
years to come — was joined with the idea of union 
and the supremacy of the Constitution. But he did 

more than issue a procla- 
mation, he made prepara- 
tion to enforce the law." 

The situation was a very 
serious one, for no one knew 
exactly what might hap- 
pen. Henry Clay, the 
great Peacemaker, brought 
forward a compromise bill. 
This bill so modified the 
tariff that South Carolina 
was given what she desired. 
At the same time a ''force 
bill" was passed, giving President Jackson special 
powers. These special powers were such as he would 
need to enforce the law in any rebellious state. Thus 
South Carolina received " the rod and the olive branch 
bound up together." 

The high-spirited state accepted the olive branch 
but paid no attention to the rod. She repealed the 
nullification act, and the danger was over for the time. 
It was, however, over only for a time, for nearly 




John C. Calhoun. 



THE GREAT XULLIFIER 295 

thirty years later the same steps were taken that led 
to the great Civil War. Once the threats of nullifi- 
cation and secession had brought the United States 
government to terms. Might not the plan be tried 
successfully a second time ?-* Calhoun sowed the ^^'ind, 
and his beloved state reaped the whirh\Tnd. 

From this time Calhoun stood out as the great 
champion of slavery and of state rights. He loved 
the Union, but to him the Union meant a compact of 
free states, not a national government set over subject 
states. 

As he lay dying in 1850, the problems of his country 
were close to his great heart. "The South ! the poor 
South! God knows what will become of her I" he 
cried. 

John C. Calhoun had done his duty as he saw it. 
His fine mind and strong will were bent to one aim, — • 
the strengthening of slavery and the doctrine of state 
rights. Because he failed, his life was a tragedy, but 
it was not a falsehood. 



HENRY CLAY, THE GREAT PEACEMAKER 

"If any one desires to know the leading and paramount object 
of my public life, the preservation of this Union will furnish him 
the key." — Henry Clay. 

In 1844 Henry Clay was a candidate for President. 
He had been defeated in his efforts to secure this high 
office several times, but this year the hopes of his 
friends were high. The Reverend William Gunn and 
his twelve stalwart sons marched to the polls at Lexing- 
ton, Kentucky, and voted for Henry Clay. Later, 
when they found that their candidate, the ''old oak of 
Kentucky," had been defeated, they all, as one man, 
burst into tears. This story shows how tenderly he 
was beloved by the members of the great Whig party. 
For days after the election, prominent Whigs could 
not meet in the streets of New York or Philadelphia 
without weeping. 

The presidency is a great goal for any man. We 
must remember, however, that it is not the test of the 
highest greatness. Clay always took his defeat mag- 
nificently. He never lost his good nature, but remained 
a big-minded, big-hearted man throughout a life full of 
disappointments. Perhaps no statesman has ever been 
so beloved ; he ''was a winner of hearts to his last day." 

296 



THE GREAT PEACEMAKER 



297 






^^, 



J^ 



I 



it 



""""iiii„ 



m^ml 



;iJL' ^-:¥^|. 



Henry Clay was born April 12, 1777, in a small 
neighborhood in Virginia called the ''Slashes." The 
child's education was a scanty one. He learned to 
read, write, and cipher in the little log-cabin 
schoolhouse in the village. When he 
was not in school, he worked on the 
farm. He plowed, he harvested, 
and was often seen riding to Dari- 
cott's mill with a rope for a bridle 
and a bag of corn, wheat, or flour 
for a saddle. Years after, 
in some of his political 
campaigns, he was spoken 
of as ''the millboy of the 
' Slashes.' " 

At nineteen, Henry 
Clay determined to be 
a lawyer. He spent a 
year in hard study in an 
office in Richmond, and, 
at the age of twenty, 
was admitted to the bar. 

Clay decided to go 
country. In 1797 he 




The millboy of the " Slashes.' 



west and grow up with the 
removed to Lexington, Ken- 
tucky, and soon had built up an excellent practice. 

When Henry Clay was twenty-six, he was elected to 
the state legislature. Three years later he was sent to 
Washington to finish another man's term in the Senate. 



298 HENRY CLAY 

From this time, for the next forty years, Henry Clay 
was in pubHc Kfe. To read our country's history from 
1807 to 1852 is to read the Hfe of Henry Clay. He 
was at first in the Senate ; then he chose to enter the 
House; later, he was again in the Senate. He was 
elected Speaker of every Congress in which he sat, and 
was for four years the Secretary of State under John 
Quincy Adams. His name is linked with great measures 
which, above all others, won for him the name of the 
''Great Compromiser" or "Peacemaker." They were 
the Missouri Compromise of 1820, the Compromise of 
1833, and the Compromise of 1850. 

Since the invention of the cotton gin and the indus- 
trial changes that followed in its wake, the North and 
the South had been developing away from each other. 
Slavery had been growing stronger at the South ; 
meanwhile, at the North, a belief had arisen that 
slavery was a great evil. 

Henry Clay hated slavery, and he often said so 
strongly. But he believed the great evil must be cor- 
rected slowly and gradually. To strike suddenly the 
fetters from several million slaves would result in 
serious and widespread evils, he believed. 

Henry Clay was an ardent patriot. He wished to 
preserve the Union at all cost. The United States 
Constitution itself was the result of compromise. 
Certain states had yielded certain matters for the 
sake of harmony. So, whenever there was great 



THE GREAT PEACEMAKER 299 

tension between the North and the South, Henry Clay 
would come forward with a peace measure, a com- 
promise. He was not a waver er ; he was not a trim- 
mer; he believed in the wisdom of his policy. ^'Con- 
sequently, whenever there was need, he was promptly 
at hand with the poultice for the bleeding wounds of 
the nation." 

John C. Calhoun and other Southern leaders were 
anxious to keep the number of slave and free states 
even. How they fought in season and out of season 
to maintain this balance of power ! In 1820 the 
question was about the admission of Missouri as a 
slave state. Clay proposed to admit Maine as a free 
state and Missouri as a slave state ; and to declare that 
hereafter there be no slave states formed in the Louisi- 
ana Purchase north of 36° 30', the southern boundary 
of Missouri. This, in brief, was the Missouri Com- 
promise, which became a law at that time. 

The story of Clay's Compromise of 1833 has been 
told in the chapter upon John C. Calhoun. It was 
Henry Clay who offered the ''olive branch" which was 
accepted, by the rebellious state of South Carolina. 

In 1850 Henry Clay was an old man of seventy-three. 
He had been out of public life for six years. But a 
serious crisis had come in the affairs of the nation, and 
the cause was slavery. The Mexican War was over. 
Were the new regions to become slave or free states ? 
Secession was in the air. 



300 



HENRY CLAY 



Kentucky urged Clay to take his place once more 
in the councils of the nation, and he obeyed. He was 
very frail, and he knew that to reenter political life 




Henry Clay speaking before the Senate. 



would shorten his own life by years, but he never 
hesitated. 

With Henry Clay, to be in Congress was to be a 
leader. He prepared the Compromise Bill of 1850 
with its seven important provisions, some to please the 
South and others to please the North. The bill, how- 
ever, was more favorable to the South. Then came 
the speech explaining and defending the measures of 
the bill. ''Many eyes were suffused with tears as the 
old man straightened himself to his full height and be- 
gan his speech. It was almost like seeing a ghost. . . . 



THE GREAT PEACEMAKER 301 

Even those who differed from him could not but ad- 
mire the man who, in his age, had come to heal the 
wounds of the nation he loved so well." 

"Still in these embers live their wonted fires." So 
it was with Henry Clay. As he spoke, the fire of youth 
returned to his eyes, his tall form held itself erect, 
while the beautiful silvery tones rang through the 
council halls of the nation as thrillingly as of yore. 
For three hours he spoke without any evidence of 
fatigue. At the close of the speech there was a burst 
of applause, and then followed ''a scene such as the 
Senate had never witnessed before. Men ran to grasp 
his hand and women vied with each other in a desire 
to kiss his tear-stained cheeks." 

Webster, in his Seventh of March Speech, and Cal- 
houn alike supported the Compromise of 1850. The 
bill, as a whole, did not pass, although its separate 
measures became laws. 

The bill of 1850 did not really settle the issues be- 
tween the North and the South. It merely postponed 
them for eleven years. But of this we may be sure: 
Henry Clay did more than any other man living could 
have done to secure a temporary peace. 

One great service of Henry Clay's should never be 
forgotten. It was, to a large degree, his memory and 
his teaching that kept Kentucky true to the Union at 
the opening of the Civil War. He had said, in 1850, 
"The honorable Senator speaks of Virginia being my 



302 HENRY CLAY 

country. This Union is my country ; the thirty states 
are my country ; Kentucky is my country. ... But 
even if it were my own State — if my own State, 
lawlessly, contrary to her duty, should raise the 
standard of disunion against the residue, I would go 
against her. I would go against Kentucky herself , in 
that case, much as I love her." 

These strong, true words were remembered and 
heeded by the men of Kentucky, when the hour of 
decision came. 

Upon Clay's monument are written these striking 
words: ''I know no South, no North, no East, no 
West." 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN, THE MAN OF THE 

HOUR 

''New birth of our new soil, the first American." 

— Lowell. 

When a mere boy, Abraham Lincoln borrowed from 
a neighbor a life of Washington. This book he read 
and reread with enthusiasm, pondering long upon the 
secret of a useful and patriotic life. He longed to be, 
like Washington, wise and devoted. 

To-day, his own life offers to a boy or girl the same 
inspiration that Washington's life offered to him. 
'^From log cabin to the White House" is a phrase that 
has been linked with the names of a few of our Presi- 
dents. It is one of the glories of America that many of 
her rulers have sprung from lowly homes. But never 
was poverty sterner or conditions more adverse than 
those which Abraham Lincoln faced as a child and a 
youth. Only an intrepid will could have conquered 
such a fate. 

On February 12, 1809, Abraham Lincoln was born 
in Hardin County, Kentucky. His father was Thomas 
Lincoln, a man of easy good nature but with little 
education or energy. He w^as somewhat of a rolling 
stone ; he believed that change of location would mend 

303 



304 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



his fortunes. He moved his home several times, but 
as he still remained poor, the years proved only that 
what was needed was a changed man. Mrs. Lincoln 
was a gentle, frail woman whose days were filled with 
hard work. She loved her two children, Abraham 
and Sarah, dearly. Sarah was two years older than 
Httle Abe. 

When Abraham was seven, his father moved from 
Kentucky to Indiana. It was a long journey by land 

and water, but the 

boy enjoyed it. 

When they reached 

: the spot where 

, Thomas Lincoln 

- had made his claim, 

an ax was put into 

Birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. Abc'shand Hc 

was tall and strong for his age. At nine he could do 
almost a man's work, and even at seven he could work 
well. From that time until he was in his twenty- third 
year an ax was his constant companion. 

Thomas Lincoln set to work to clear land and to 
build their home. The new cabin was rude and un- 
finished. There were neither doors nor windows. 
The floor was of earth trodden down hard. The bed 
was made by driving two stakes into the ground 
at one side of the room. From these stakes, poles 
were laid across to the logs in the wall ; upon this rude 




THE MAN OF THE HOUR 



305 



frame, boards were placed and the frontier bedstead 
was completed. The bedding consisted of leaves and 
dry boughs, covered with skins of animals. Abraham 
slept in a loft above the living room. Pegs were driven 
in the wall to form his staircase. 

But there were happy hours in this poor home. Mrs. 
Lincoln would sit with her little boy by the cheerful 
wood fire and read to him from the Bible. When 
Abraham wished to read for himself, his mother gladly 
taught him all she knew. Then he would sit in the 
chimney corner or lie prone on the hearth reading and 
rereading the few books he could find. 

What did little Abe look like ? He was a tall, thin, 
awkward boy with a homely face. Still his eyes were 
so earnest and kind and his smile so friendly that people 
liked him at once. He wore trousers of tanned deer- 
skin and a shirt of homemade linsey-woolsey. He 
never wore stockings until he was a man. In winter 
he wore moccasins of deerskin made by his mother. 
His coonskin cap also had been made by her. She had 
left the ringed tail of the animal hanging down behind, 
as an ornament. 

A great sorrow now came to the boy. His be- 
loved mother fell sick and died. Life on the frontier 
was more than her feeble strength could endure. On 
the last morning she drew the child Abraham into her 
arms and whispered: ''My boy, I am going away, 
and you will not see me again. Be good — I know 

COE M. 20 



3o6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

you will. Help your father. Take good care of your 
sister. Live as I have taught you, and love God 
always." 

These last words of his mother Lincoln never forgot. 
He often repeated them to himself and, at all times, 
tried to follow them. Long years afterwards, when he 
had won a great place in the world, he said, ''AH that 
I am, and all that I hope to be, I owe to my angel 
mother." It is a beautiful fact that our two great 
American heroes, Washington and Lincoln, were both 
loving and dutiful sons. 

For a year, life was most forlorn in this frontier 
home. Then Thomas Lincoln went away and re- 
turned in a few days with a new mother for the chil- 
dren. The new mother brought with her quite a store 
of household goods, — beds, bureaus, chairs, tables, 
warm blankets, and clothing of all sorts. She insisted 
upon having the cabin finished, so her husband fell to 
work laying a floor, hanging a door, and putting in 
oiled paper for window panes. 

The new wife had a big motherly heart, and soon 
Sarah and Abe were warmly dressed and more comfort- 
able than they had ever been before in all their lives. 
Abraham interested Mrs. Lincoln. She admired his 
ambition to secure an education, and she kept the other 
children from disturbing him when he was hard at 
work over his books in the evening. 

Abe helped his father clear his land and inclose it 




Hard at work over his books in the evening." 



307 



3o8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

with rail fences. He plowed, he planted, he hoed, he 
harvested, he carried the corn to the mill. Often he 
hired out to work for the neighbors. But then, of 
course, his father kept the money that he earned. 
What he liked best was plowing. At the end of 
each furrow the horse was allowed to rest. Scarcely 
had the animal halted, when Abe was on the fence deep 
in a book that he had pulled from his pocket. After 
a few minutes, the work of plowing went on again. 

In all his life Abraham was in school but a single 
year. This, however, made no matter. The boy 
was determined to learn, and early and late he was busy 
with his studies. He read all the books he could lay 
his hands on through a circuit of fifty miles. They 
were few in number but very choice. He read "Pil- 
grim's Progress," "Robinson Crusoe," "^sop's Fa- 
bles," "Weems's Life of Washington," a history of the 
United States, and the Statutes of Indiana. Lincoln 
made the contents of these books his own by reading 
and rereading them, by copying notable passages, and 
by turning over in his mind the thoughts and their 
expression. He did not let a book leave him until he 
had "absorbed all its strong juices into his own nature." 

In studying arithmetic, he used a smooth clapboard 
or wooden fire shovel for a slate. His pencil was a bit of 
charcoal. When the surface of the shovel was so black- 
ened that the sums were illegible, Lincoln shaved off the 
board and began again upon a fresh white surface. 



THE MAN OF THE HOUR 



309 



In 1830 Thomas Lincoln moved to the valley of the 
Sangamon River in Illinois. Abraham helped him 
build his house and then put a fence around ten acres 
of prairie land. "How he would chop !" said Dennis 
Hanks long afterward. "His ax would flash and bite 
into a sugar tree or sycamore and down it would come. 
If you heard him felling 
trees, you would think there 
were three men at work, the 
trees came down so fast." 

And now, having settled 
his father and stepmother in 




Lincoln on the Mississippi flatboat. 

their new home, the young man was free to seek his own 
fortunes. What offered was humble enough. He was 
employed as boatman to take a flatboat down the 
Mississippi to New Orleans. The new scenes were a 
tonic to him. New Orleans itself was the most pic- 
turesque city in America at this time. It was here, in 
this gulf port, that he came face to face with the great 
evil of slavery. Standing in the slave market, he saw 



3IO ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

the agony of parting, the tears, the blows, the price 
laid down for men and women. Lincoln had great 
tenderness of heart, and the sight was one he never 
forgot. 

Later, Lincoln and a man named Berry went into 
partnership, in order to carry on a store of their own. 
One day a man came by who wished to get rid of a 
barrel, which he offered to Lincoln for fifty cents. 
Lincoln made the trade and thought no more about it. 
One day he decided to examine his purchase and, on 
turning out the contents of the barrel, discovered to his 
surprise a complete set of Blackstone. Blackstone is 
the author of books which all students of law study. 

It was Lincoln's habit to master the contents of all his 
books. He would have read these books anyway, but 
as he had always longed to be a lawyer, he now gave all 
his spare time to their study. "Perched upon a wood- 
pile, or lying under a tree with his feet thrust upwards 
against the trunk and ' grinding around with the shade ' 
he caused some neighbors to laugh and others to say he 
was daft." But the more thoughtful could not help 
respecting him and wondering over his future. 

In March, 1837, at the age of twenty-eight, Abraham 
Lincoln was admitted to the bar. He had won the goal 
of his ambition. 

But, in all these years, he had won something that 
was even more precious. This was the trust and affec- 
tion of all who knew him. Wliat was there in this 



THE MAN OF THE HOUR 



311 



homely, awkward young man that made faces brighter 
when they met him ? First of all there was his kindness 
of heart. Whatever the need, he was ready to help. 
When a wagon was to be pushed out of the mire, his 
shoulder was first against the wheel ; he split wood for 
widows ; he tended children ; and once he carried home 
on his back a drunken 
man who was in 
danger of freezing to 
death. 

Soon after he went 
to live in Springfield, 
he passed a little girl 
crying at the gate. 
''What's the matter, 
Sissy ?" he asked. 

''I was going to 
spend a week at aunt- 
ie's and the express- 
man has forgotten to 
call for my trunk. I 
shan't catch my train." 

"Get your bonnet. Sissy, and show me the trunk," 
cried the big-hearted man. 

Throwing the trunk on his shoulder, he ran with the 
little girl to the station, tossed them both upon the 
train, and walked away happy. 

Another quaHty his neighbors admired in Abe was 




He ran with the little girl to the station.' 



312 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



his honesty. In his store keeping days he once over- 
charged a customer sixpence. That night he walked 
three miles to return the money. Another time he 
accidentally gave a woman a quarter of a pound of tea 
less than she had paid for. He did not rest until he 
had weighed out what was owing and had taken it to 
the customer. 

Lincoln's honesty, however, was more than common- 
place material honesty in business dealings, important 
as that is. Honesty of mind was the very core of the 
man, deep-rooted in the center of his being. This 
honesty showed itself in his clear, simple speech, in 
his direct, straightforward purposes, in his inmost 
thoughts. Every new thought he must "bound on the 
north, south, east, and west." When he had accepted 
a truth, he forthwith acted upon it, whether it seemed 
expedient or not. He was ready to rise or fall with 
truth. 

Thus his honesty came to have a tremendous force 
in the Illinois court rooms. He would not plead for a 
man whom he believed to be in the wrong. He once 
threw up a case in the court room, when he had become 
convinced that his client was a scoundrel. As the com- 
munity came to realize these facts, moral prestige was 
secured by the side upon which Abraham Lincoln was 
to appear. 

Another quality that endeared Lincoln to his neigh- 
bors was his humor. He was always genial, always 



THE MAN OF THE HOUR 



313 



ready with an amusing story that invariably shed light 
on the whole matter under discussion. While the 
farmers, business men, and politicians of Illinois laughed 
at the wit, they also caught the flash of truth. Few 
could help liking the plain, awkward man with his 
gaunt, tired face and his winning smile. 

We have read how the country was nearly rent in 
twain over the slavery question in 1850. At that time 
Clay introduced his famous compromise measure, which 
was supported by Daniel Webster. In the decade from 
1850 to i860 the extension of slavery became the burn- 
ing question of the day. 

The South saw that, to keep any balance of power be- 
tween the slave and the free states, it must be possible 
to have slavery in the territories. The Missouri Com- 
promise was practically repealed by the passage of the 
Kansas-Nebraska bill in 1854. These territories were 
to be opened to colonization, and the choice of slaves or 
no slaves was to lie with the settlers themselves. Then 
followed lawless times. In the midst of the excitement 
a new party, the Republican, was born, pledged to pre- 
vent the extension of slavery in the territories. This 
was in 1856. 

In 1858 a senator was to be elected in Illinois. Lin- 
coln was the candidate for the Republicans. His rival 
was Senator Stephen A. Douglas, who sought reelection. 
For years Lincoln had been carefully studying the 
slavery question, ^'bounding" it from all sides. He 



314 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



sought not expedient views, views that would win votes, 
but the truth. He proposed that he and Douglas 
should meet in debate on the question of slavery in the 
territories. Douglas accepted. He was a handsome, 

polished, successful 
man. Lincoln was 
homely, awkward, 
and not exactly 
successful. In- 
deed, he called 
himself, at this 
time, a failure. 

The rivals were 
well matched, and 
each was in dead 
earnest. Douglas 
represented the 
Democratic party. 
He claimed that it 
was right for the 
people in the terri- 
tories to choose 

Lincoln and Douglas in debate. whether Or nO they 

would have slavery. This he called the principle of 
''popular sovereignty." For himself, he said, he did 
not care whether slavery was extended in this manner 
or not. Lincoln said that slavery was a great evil. 
The government had no right to root it out of the 




THE MAN OF THE HOUR 315 

States already in the Union. They had come in as 
slave states under the Constitution. But the nation 
could keep slavery out of the territories, and it was its 
duty so to do. A famous oft-quoted passage from one 
of Lincoln's speeches at this time is the following: 
'"A house divided against itself cannot stand.' I be- 
lieve this government cannot endure permanently, half 
slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be 
dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I 
do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become 
all one thing, or all the other." A boy who heard the 
debate recalls that ' 'while I had thought Lincoln the 
homeliest man I ever saw, he was the handsomest man 
I ever Hstened to in a speech. Lincoln, in action, no 
one has been able to describe. He was simply gran- 
deur itself." 

Although Lincoln had the best of the debates, 
Douglas won the senatorship. The disappointment of 
Lincohi was keen. He said ''I feel like the boy who 
stubbed his toe — it hurt too bad to laugh, and he was 
too big to cry !" 

His clear and forceful views had won the attention 
of the East. Abraham Lincoln was now a leader in 
the RepubHcan party, and he was invited to come to 
New York to make a speech at Cooper Union. East- 
erners were curious to see and hear this man from the 
backwoods. Men of letters, critics, and poHticians 
gathered in quite a spirit of curiosity. 



3i6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

One of the audience writes his impression in the fol- 
lowing words : ''He was tall, tall — oh, how tall, and 
so angular and awkward that I had, for an instant, a 
feeling of pity for so ungainly a man. His clothes were 
black and ill-fitting, badly wrinkled — as if they had 
been jammed carelessly into a small trunk. . . . 

''He began in a very low tone of voice. . . . He said, 
'Mr. Cheerman,' and employed many other words with 
an old-fashioned pronunciation. I said to myself : ' Old 
fellow, you won't do. It's all very well for the wild 
West, but this will never go down in New York ! ' 

"But pretty soon he began to get into his subject; 
he straightened up, and made regular and graceful 
gestures. His face lighted as with an inward fire ; 
the whole man was transfigured. I forgot his clothes, 
his personal appearance, and his individual peculiari- 
ties. Presently, forgetting myself, I was on my feet 
with the rest, yelling like a wild Indian, cheering this 
wonderful man. In the close parts of his arguments, 
you could hear the gentle sizzing of the gas burners. 
When he reached a climax, the thunder of applause 
was terrific. 

"It was a great speech. When I came out of the 
hall, my face glowing with excitement and my frame 
all a-quiver, a friend, with his eyes aglow, asked me 
what I thought of Abe Lincoln, the rail splitter. I 
said, ' He's the greatest man since St. Paul ! ' And I 
think so yet. 



THE MAN OF THE HOUR 



317 



"The speech was pubHshed the next day in all the 
New York papers. Mr. Lincoln had won the esteem 
of the most thoughtful men in the East. They said 
to him at parting, 'Be true to your principles, and we 
will be true to you, and God will be true to us all.' 

''And he answered: 'I say Amen to that! Amen 
tothat!"'^ 

Thus it came to pass that Lincoln was nominated 
by the Republicans as their candidate for President. 
Old parties were breaking up. There were, in all, four 
candidates, among them Douglas, the choice of one 
wing of the Democratic party. Lincoln, however, was 
successful. He won the election in the fall of i860, to 
the anger of the slave party. 

As soon as Lincoln's election was a certainty, seven 
states seceded from the Union and set up a Confederate 
government. They were South Carolina, Mississippi, 
Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. 
They chose for their president Jefferson Davis of Vir- 
ginia. 

Upon a rent and disorganized nation, dawned the 
morning of the fourth of March, 1861. The inaugura- 
tion address of President Lincoln was conciliatory. He 
said, in closing : "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow 
countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue 
of civil war. The government will not assail you. 

"You can have no conflict without being yourselves 
^ Abraham Lincoln, James Baldwin. American Book Co. 



3i8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven 
to destroy the government ; while I shall have the most 
solemn one to preserve, protect, and defend it. 

''We are not enemies, but friends. We must not 
be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it 
must not break our bonds of affection.'' 

Lincoln's task was a tremendous one, a greater one, 
many think, than even Washington's. He had taken 
solemn oath to maintain the Union, and, at all cost, 
" Honest Abe " would keep his word. He could do 
nothing without the consent and support of the people 
of the United States. Would they stand behind him 
in his efforts? The antislavery men saw but one 
thing, — the immediate freeing of the slaves. To do 
this would be to act unconstitutionally. This dif- 
ficulty the ardent band refused to see. They criti- 
cized Lincoln for sloth and hardness of heart. Other 
Northerners were hesitating and timid. They were 
quite ready to say to their Southern brethren, ''Go in 
peace." If the South should make war, no one could 
be sure that the North would heartily cooperate with 
the government. Another peril was that European 
countries would recognize the Confederacy as a nation. 
Lincoln stood alone, but undaunted. All his life long 
he had been used to responsibility ; the burden of the 
nation he shouldered fearlessly, prayerfully. 

On April 12, 1861, the stars and stripes flying over 
Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor were fired upon. 



THE MAN OF THE HOUR 319 

For two days Major Anderson, the Union commander, 
was besieged. On April 14, he surrendered, marching 
out with all the honors of war. 

Then, indeed, the North was thoroughly aroused. 
The people were aflame with patriotism. Lincoln 
called for 75,000 volunteers to serve for three months, 
and the response was enthusiastic. Many more men 
offered themselves than were needed. At the south, 
North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, and Tennessee 
joined the Confederacy. 

With the war actually under way, Lincoln was the 
commander in chief. He mustered the troops, studied 
the topography of the enemy's country, planned the 
movements of the Northern armies, and sent orders to 
the generals. These were strange new duties, but he 
toiled night and day at the war ofhce and, in time, 
became expert. 

One day in July, 1862, Lincoln read to his cabinet 
an Emancipation Proclamation written by himself. 
This document set free the slaves of the states in re- 
bellion. These slaves were raising corn and other 
produce that fed the Southern army. They were em- 
ployed in throwing up earthworks, and in many other 
ways sustained the activities of the Confederate arms. 
Since the proclamation could be justified as a war 
measure, the cabinet approved. It was decided to 
issue the document after the next Northern victory. 
Accordingly, on September 23, after the battle of 



320 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 




Lincoln reading the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet. 



Antietam, an Emancipation Proclamation was issued, 
giving freedom to the slaves on January i, 1863. 
This edict did not free the slaves in the border states, 

— in Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, 

— states that were true to the Union. From the first, 
Lincoln had realized that the balance of power lay 
with these states. If they could be kept from seced- 
ing, the North must win. Consequently, he followed 
a wise conciliatory policy which held these wavering 
states true to the Union. 

The remaining events of the war may be sketched 
rapidly. The army of the Potomac had been com- 
manded by general after general. Each, in turn, had 
suffered tremendous defeats. In March, 1864, Gen- 



THE MAN OF THE HOUR 



321 



eral Grant, the conqueror of Vicksburg, was made 
commander of all the Union armies. 

In June, Lincoln was nominated for a second term. 
There was much opposition to him. The war had been 
dragging on with varying fortunes. Battles with 
great losses of life 
marked the path 
of General Grant's 
slow progress to- 
ward Richmond, 
the Confederate 
capital. People 
shook their heads. 
Perhaps a new 
leader might bring 
success. 

Suddenly, in the 
fall, came victory 
after victory. At- 
lanta fell and Sher- 
man made his tri- 
umphal march to the sea. Lincoln now appeared a 
brilliantly successful leader to the eyes of all, even of 
his detractors. 

He was triumphantly reelected in November. On 
January 31, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the 
Constitution became a law of the land. This declared 
that, in future, no slavery could exist within the United 




The country around Richmond. 



COE M. 



322 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

States. Our Civil War was fought over the question 
of union. But the deeper question of slavery that 
had sown the seeds of disunion, was settled forever. 

On March 4, Lincoln read his second inaugural. 
It breathes a wonderful spirit of tenderness and brother- 
hood and closes with these matchless words : 

''With mahce toward none; with charity for all; 
with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the 
right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in ; 
to bind up the nation's wounds ; to care for him who 
shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his 
orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a 
just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all 
nations." 

The lines of the Southern defenses were at last giving 
way before Grant. On April 3, Petersburg fell, and 
about the same time Lee and his valiant little army 
marched out of Richmond. Lincoln visited the de- 
serted Confederate capital a few days later and, in com- 
pany with a few friends, walked through the silent 
streets. News of his presence reached the colored 
people. Then the streets were silent no longer. They 
whom he had freed flocked about the tall, gaunt man 
with the sad and wistful face, shouting: ''God bress 
Massa Linkum ! He's de Messiah, suah ! Praise de 
Lord ! D ere '11 be no more sighin' now ! Oh, dis am 
de judgment day ! De good Lord bress you, Presi- 
dent Linkum!" Many fell on their knees and tried 



THE MAN OF THE HOUR 



323 




They flocked about the tall, gaunt man. 



to kiss his feet. The great man was deeply moved. 
"My poor friends," he said, "do not kneel to me. 
Kneel to God only, and thank Him for the liberty you 
will hereafter enjoy." 

Another week passed. The news had come of Lee's 
surrender to Grant at Appomattox. The nation re- 
joiced that the cruel war was indeed at an end, and a 
deep content filled the President's heart. The Union 
was saved ! 

But the cup of rejoicing was dashed from the nation's 



324 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

lips. On the night of the fourteenth of April, Abraham 
Lincoln was shot by a Southern sympathizer, and the 
following morning he died. 

"And when the morning opened Heaven's gate, 
There passed the whitest soul a nation knew." 

The stricken nation could not, at first, realize its 
terrible loss. It was stunned. But the mourning 
was deep and heartfelt throughout the countr\^ Even 
the South felt that it had lost its most powerful friend. 

"Never before that startled April morning did such 
multitudes of men shed tears for the death of one they 
had never seen. . . . Never was funeral sermon so elo- 
quent as the silent look of s>TQpathy which strangers 
exchanged when they met on that day. Their common 
manhood had lost a kinsman." 

Washington the founder, and Lincoln the preserver, 
of American Liberty I They shine "as twin stars in 
the firmament of our national fame." 



ROBERT E. LEE, COMMANDER OF THE 
CONFEDERATE ARMIES 

Robert Edward Lee grew up amid surroundings 
and traditions very similar to those of George Wash- 
ington. He was born in Westmoreland County, Vir- 
ginia, which was also the county of Washington's 
birth. His father, "Light Horse Harry Lee," was 
a brilliant young ca^'alry officer under Washington. 
It is to Harry Lee that we owe the famous saying 
about Washington, ''First in war, first in peace, first 
in the hearts of his countrymen." 

Robert was a grave little fellow, earnest and thought- 
ful beyond his years. When he was eleven, his father 
died, and from that time he devoted himself to his 
invalid mother. 

At eighteen Robert Lee entered West Point, for he 
wished to be a soldier like his father before him. His 
scholarship was excellent, and he graduated second in 
his class. 

His first active ser\ice was in the JMexican W^ar. 
Here it was that McClellan, Thomas, Grant, Johnston, 
Jackson, and other generals of the Ci\il War received 
their trainmg. General Scott, the commander in 
chief, paid Lee high tribute. He said: "My success 

325 



326 



ROBITRT E. LEE 



(in Mexico) was largely due to the skill, valor, and un- 
daunted energy of Colonel R. E. Lee. . . . Lee is 
the greatest military genius of America and the best 
soldier that I ever saw in the field." 




West Point Military Academy. 



Twelve happy years passed by, crowded with de- 
voted service to both country and family. In 1861, 
the great crisis was at hand. 

What was it that gave Colonel Lee to the Southern 
side ? He did not believe in slavery, — his slaves 
were free. Neither did he believe in secession. He 
loved the Union, but before the Union, he loved his 
native state. He was first and foremost a Virginian. 
Wherever Virginia placed herself, there Lee would be 
at her side, his sword drawn to defend her. When 



COMMANDER OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMIES 327 

Virginia was invaded by Northern armies, Lee and his 
friends beHeved that they were resisting tyranny just 
as truly as Patrick Henry and George Washington had 
resisted it of old. 

The command of the Northern army was offered 
to Robert Lee. He refused this great honor, resigned 
from the United States army, and offered his sword 
to his native state. ''I could have taken no other 
course, save in dishonor," he said. ''If all were to do 
over again, I should act in precisely the same way." 
Thus there came to the aid of the Confederacy one of 
the few really great commanders that the world has 
ever seen. 

In one brief chapter it would be impossible to speak 
fully of the leadership of Robert Edward Lee. Much 
of the superior fighting quality of the splendid army of 
northern Virginia was due to the fact that for four 
years it retained the same commander, General Lee. 
''Marse Robert," ''Uncle Robert," "the old man," — 
these were the names the men in gray had for their 
leader. How proud they were to see him pass ! Lee 
was a handsome man, tall, dignified, soldierly, with 
beautiful dark eyes, and almost snow-white hair. His 
gentle dignity was so perfect and his unselfishness so 
absolute that the men stood in awe of him. 

A story is told of a ragged rebel whom a group 
of comrades were trying to convert to the doctrine 
of evolution. "Well, boys," he cried, "the rest of 



328 



ROBERT E. LEE 



US may have descended from monkeys, but I tell you 
it took a God to make 'Marse Robert.'" 

Richmond was the Southern capital, and the purpose 
of the fighting on the part of the North was to capture 

Richmond and, on 

pHH^. ^^ South, to defend 

W ' it. After Lee had 

taken command of 
northern Virginia 
in 1862, he engaged 
the Federal troops 
in the seven days' 
fighting around 
Richmond. Again 
and again he hurled 
back McClellan's 
forces, until they 
finally retreated 
from the soil of 
Virginia. With 
the aid of his able second, General Stonewall Jackson, 
Lee crushed the army of General Pope. He then deter- 
mined upon an invasion of Maryland. It was hoped 
that this border state might be won to the Southern 
cause. With the song ''Maryland, my Maryland," 
the gray coats entered the green valleys of this sister 
state. They encountered the Northerners at Antietam, 




General Lee on his favorite horse, Traveler. 



COMMANDER OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMIES 329 

or Sharpsburg, where was fought one of the fiercest 
battles of the war. Lee's planning and moves were 
masterly, and in everything he was most ably supported 
by Jackson. 

Antietam, however, must be considered a drawn 
battle. The Southerners crossed the Potomac in perfect 
order and retreated slowly into Virginia. In January, 
1863, Lee defeated General Hooker at Chancellors ville. 
Perhaps this was his most wonderful battle. Jackson 
had wrought wonders, but by a great misfortune he 
was seriously wounded by his own troops. Later his 
arm was amputated. Lee sent Jackson this message : 
"You are better off than I am, for while you have lost 
only your left, I have lost my right arm." Jackson's 
reply was : ''Better that ten Jacksons should fall than 
one Lee." 

As the season advanced, it was seen that Vicksburg 
on the Mississippi must soon fall into Northern hands. 
As a counterstroke, Lee decided to hurl his army north- 
ward into Pennsylvania. There he could take the 
enemy at a disadvantage by this sudden blow, at the 
same time finding provisions for his hungry army. 

At Gettysburg, in southern Pennsylvania, the two 
armies came unexpectedly face to face. Fighting 
began almost at once. The Union troops held a strong 
position on Cemetery Ridge, but they were, at first, 
far outnumbered by the Confederates. However, 
Meade, who had just taken command, hurried his 



330 ROBERT E. LEE 

available forces to Gettysburg, where hour by hour the 
boys in blue toiled to intrench themselves. Lee's 
hope of success was immediate action. His forces were 
all on the field, and every hour's delay strengthened 
the enemy. He attacked on July first and second, but 
failed to dislodge his foe. This was due to the lack of 
concerted action among his generals. 

On the third day the battle continued. In the 
afternoon came a charge that will always be remem- 
bered in history. This was Pickett's charge. Fifteen 
thousand men in gray, led by General Pickett, charged 
across nearly a mile of open country, with the Union 
artillery playing upon them all the way. Whole rows 
of men were swept down, but their comrades pressed 
on undismayed. Their goal was Cemetery Ridge. 

In the very face of the blazing breastworks they 
paused to fire a volley, and then came on with a rush. 
They seized some of the still smoking guns, beat back 
the gunners, and actually planted their battle flags upon 
the summit of Cemetery Ridge. Then the whole Union 
army seemed to leap from the ground and hurl itself 
upon them. They reeled, turned, broke into fragments, 
and fled, leaving 5000 dead and wounded in their trail. 
Such was Pickett's charge — a wave of human courage 
which recorded ''the high-water mark" of the war. 

Had Pickett been properly supported, the results 
might have been very different. Long afterward, Lee 
said, "If I had had Jackson at Gettysburg, as far as 



COMMANDER OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMIES 331 

human reason can see, I should have won a great 

victory." 

For a day the two armies rested on the field. Then 
Lee began a deliberate and masterly retreat to the 
Potomac, which he crossed on the night of the thirteenth. 
It was days after the battle before Meade sufficiently 
recovered to pursue him. 

The Northern army were still far from reaching Rich- 
mond. With a much smaller force, the Confederate 
commander ''had practically fought a drawn battle with 
them for three years. His science had not, it is true, 
been able to overcome their numbers, but their num- 
bers had not overpowered him. This might go on for- 
ever, as far as any one could see." 

But President Lincoln now appointed General 

Ulysses S. Grant, the hero of Vicksburg, commander 

in chief of the Northern army. Grant's plans were 

simple. He would occupy all the Confederate armies 

so that none might relieve the other. He would fight 

and continue fighting, "until he pounded his opponent 

to pieces." Every able-bodied man of the South was 

in the field. Grant saw that it was cheaper in the end 

to give two men or even three for one in- battle. He 

also refused to exchange prisoners, since that was now 

the only way in which recruits could come to the South. 

This aim explains such fearful contests as those 

of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, and Cold Harbor, 

where the slaughter staggered the North and brought 




332 



COMMANDER OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMIES 333 

forth cries of protest against the sturdy little general 
who could ^'keep silent in seven different languages/' 
At Cold Harbor, Grant lost 7000 of his finest troops 
within an hour. In but little over a month he had 
lost about 55,000 troops, a number nearly equal to the 
soldiers in Lee's army. 

Other Northern commanders had turned back after 
meeting such furious checks, but not so Grant. "I 
shall fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer," 
was his one comment. 

Leaving Cold Harbor, he made a swift and skillful 
crossing of the James and moved against Petersburg, 
the key to Richmond on the south. Lee was there 
almost as soon, and a stern siege began. 

These were the last days of the war. The fate of 
Richmond hung on the fate of Petersburg. The 
plight of Lee's army was indescribable. They lacked 
clothing, blankets, medicines, ammunition, and food. 
All were starving together. The Southern coast line 
was blockaded by the Northern fleet so that no food 
could come from Europe. The Northern generals, 
Sherman and Sheridan, had made Georgia and the 
Shenandoah, the granaries of the South, a barren waste. 
*'The next crow that flies over the valley must carry 
his own rations," said Sherman. Mrs. Lee and her 
friends were knitting socks night and day, but how 
could they compete with the factories of the North ? 

However, the strength and courage of Lee were still 



334 



ROBERT E. LEE 



firm. '^Inspired by his example, the whole South 
seemed to lean up against him, in implicit, loving re- 
liance." For months he held 100,000 troops at bay 
with a skeleton army of less than 30,000 men. 

In April, to save his army, Lee sent word to Presi- 
dent Davis that he could defend Richmond no longer. 
He soon after abandoned Petersburg and marched 
westward. He had hoped to meet his provision trains 
at Amelia Court House, but by an unfortunate acci- 
dent the train had gone into Richmond. This was a 
fatal blow. With Grant in hot pursuit, the Confed- 
erates, in rapidly decreasing numbers, toiled wearily 
on to Appomattox. It might be possible to cut their 
way out, but that would mean an unnecessary loss of 
life. The end had plainly come. 

Lee saw it and accepted the situation. To him his 
duty was clear. ''There is nothing left for me but to 
go and see General Grant." 

So, on the ninth of April, Lee and Grant met to agree 
upon the terms of surrender. "Lee wore a spotless 
gray uniform, long cavalry boots, spurs and gauntlets, 
and carried the beautiful sword given him by Virginia. 
. . . His tall, splendidly proportioned figure and 
grave, dignified bearing heightened the effect. His 
well-trimmed hair and beard were almost snow-white 
. . . and his clear eyes and erect carriage were re- 
markable for a man of fifty-eight. Grant was barely 
forty-three . . . but his face was worn and haggard 



COMMANDER OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMIES 335 

from recent illness, and his thickset figure and drooping 
shoulders were those of a man well advanced in years. 
For uniform he wore the blouse of a private, to which 
the shoulder straps of a heutenant general had been 
stitched ; his trousers were tucked into top-boots worn 
without spurs ; he carried no sword, and from head to 
foot he was splashed wdth mud." 

Both North and South may look back to that quiet 
scene with pride. Each general acquitted himself 
perfectly. The \actor offered most generous terms, 
which the defeated general accepted with dignity. 

Lee had shown no emotion during the interview. 
Only, as he stepped upon the porch of the house where 
the fateful papers had been signed, and caught sight 
of the blue Virginia hills, he struck his gauntleted 
hands together in a gesture of unutterable agony. 
He then mounted his gray horse. Traveler, and rode 
calmly back to his army. ''They were waiting, grief- 
stricken and dejected, upon the hillsides, when they 
caught sight of their old commander on the gray horse. 
Then occurred one of the most notable scenes in the 
history of the war. In an instant they were about 
him, bare-headed, with tear-wet faces ; thronging 
him, kissing his hand, his boots, his saddle ; weeping ; 
cheering him amid their tears ; shouting his name to 
the very skies. He said: 'Men, we have fought 
through the war together. I have done my best for 
you. My heart is too full to say more.' 




336 



COMMANDER OF THE CONFEDERATE ARMIES 337 

^' Lee's final victory was that the devotion of the 
South to him was greater in the hour of defeat than 
in that of victory." 

Robert E. Lee might have been Governor of Vir- 
ginia ; but he chose, instead, to work for peace and for 
the upbuilding of the South. He became President 
of Washington College, a small struggling school that 
had been endowed by George Washington. He knew 
and loved the boys in his charge, and his influence over 
them was a mighty power during the five years in 
which he guided the destinies of the college. 

Robert E. Lee died suddenly in 1870 at the age of 
seventy- three. In his memory the name of the college 
was changed to Washington and Lee University. 

Lee's character was singularly perfect. He was 
totally lacking in all self-seeking. ^' There was that 
about him in manner and still more in action which 
proved that he thought only of his country and his 
duty." He was brave, yet tender. Once in battle he 
exposed his life to raise a fledgling sparrow and place 
it in its nest. Again, a young offlcer who had sulkily 
resented a well-merited rebuke by Lee awoke in the 
damp cold morning to find that his commander had 
spread his own oilskin coat over him while he slept. 

Thomas Nelson Page closes his life of Lee with these 
words : ''He has a nobler monument than can be built 
of marble or brass. His monument is the adoration of 
the South ; his shrine is in every Southern heart." 

COE M. 22 



FOUR CIVIL WAR GENERALS 

Many great men served as officers in the Civil War 
on both the Northern and the Southern sides. The 
purpose of this chapter is to paint certain character- 
istics and tell typical anecdotes of four such leading 
generals. They are Grant and Sheridan for the 
North ; Jackson and Stuart for the South. 



ULYSSES S. GRANT 

The qualities that made Ulysses S. Grant great 
were courage, honesty, and a will like iron. Some of 

these traits had 
been marked in the 
child and the grow- 
ing boy. 

One day, when 
Grant was two years 
old, there was a cele- 
bration of some kind 
in his native town. 
His father took the baby to see the procession and, as he 
held him high in his arms, a boy neighbor passed by. 
The lad was playing his part in the celebration by 
loading and firing a pistol. 

338 




Birthplace of U. S. Grant. 



ULYSSES S. GRANT 339 

"Hello, Lyss," said he, "Want to shoot? Do let 
him try, Mr. Grant." 

The father clasped the tiny fingers around the 
trigger. Bang ! went the pistol. All around them 
women screamed, but the child did not flinch. 

"Tick it again! Tick it again!" he urged. A 
second time he fired, with the same coolness as before. 
No duck took to water more easily than he did to fire- 
arms. "That child is born to be a general," said a man 
who had been watching. 

Grant tells the following story of himself at eight : 
"There was a Mr. Ralston . . . who owned a colt which 
I very much wanted. My father had offered twenty 
dollars for it, but Ralston wanted twenty -five. I was 
so anxious to have the colt that . . . my father yielded, 
but said twenty dollars was all the horse was worth, 
and told me to offer that price. If it was not accepted, 
I was to offer twenty-two and a half, and if that would 
not get him, to give the twenty -five. I at once mounted 
a horse, and went for the colt. When I got to Mr. 
Ralston's house, I said to him, 'Papa says I may 
offer you twenty dollars for the colt, but if you won't 
take that, I am to offer twenty-two and a half, and, if 
you won't take that, to give you twenty-five.' " 

This straightforward honesty was marked in him all 
his life. 

Grant led an uneventful career at West Point ; he 
distinguished himself in the Mexican War ; at its close, 



340 



FOUR CIVIL WAR GENER.\LS 



he left the army to go into a business Hfe. For the 
next dozen years he was a failure. He could not even 




Grant drilling raw troops. 

support his own family. The Civil War, however, 
called out all that was strongest and best in Grant 
and revealed him to the nation, — a truly great man. 

He had wonderful power to control and manage men. 
Give him a body of raw soldiers, and he would so drill 
and train them that, in a few weeks' time, they would 
seem like picked troops. While the army of the 
Potomac advanced but to retreat, while they fought 
drawn battles or losing battles on the hundred miles' 
stretch from Washington to Richmond, the army of 
the West under Grant was making slow progress, it 



ULYSSES S. GRANT 341 

was true, but sure. The news of the taking of Forts 
Henry and Donelson ''was a breath of health after 
jaded months of sickness." Grant's words, ''I propose 
to move immediately upon your works" and ''uncon- 
ditional surrender" were like a backbone appearing 
in something that had begun to look like a jellyfish. 
Soldiers and citizens saw with delight the interpretation 
of Grant's initials, a,nd U. S. Grant henceforth became 
"Unconditional Surrender Grant." 

The whole secret of Grant's success was that his 
tremendous will had been aroused. He was bound to 
succeed for his country's good. After he became 
commander in chief, he said, "I feel as sure of taking 
Richmond as I do of dying." "Not McClellan, not 
Meade, not Lincoln himself, not any one at all had 
ever been able to feel as sure as that. This utter 
certainty of the Union's success burned in Grant like a 
central fire and . . . made his will a great natural force 
which gravitated swiftly and irresistibly to its end." 
It is not strange that the great men around him should 
become aware of this power. Lincoln felt, in his mar- 
row, that here was a man who would finish the task 
set him. He had sought such a one ceaselessly, and at 
last he was found. The clamor of the country, " Give 
us a man !" was answered. "Sherman felt the power 
near at hand, as he fought under Grant, and wrote to him 
that it was something which he could liken to nothing 
else than the faith a Christian has in his Saviour." 



342 



FOUR CIVIL WAR GENERALS 



''When Lincoln was taken, ... no man was so 
loved as Grant." The nation made him President for 
eight years, but his best years, his most shining years, 
were the four of the Civil War. 

THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON 

Next to General Lee, the man who did most for the 
Southern cause was General Jackson. You will be 
interested to know how he won his curious nickname of 
''Stonewall." 

It was at the first battle of Bull Run, or Manassas. 
The Confederate left had retreated a mile or more. 
The Carolina and Georgia troops were in great confu- 
sion. The commanders were vainly trying to rally them. 
Those in retreat at length "reached the plateau where 
Jackson and his brigade were stationed. The brigade 
never wavered, but stood fast and held the position." 

"See there!" shouted General Bee, "Jackson is 
standing like a stone wall. Rally on the Virginians !" 

Rally they did, and Jackson was thereafter known 
as "Stonewall." 

The name of Stonewall passed over to the brigade 
commanded by General Jackson. How proud he was 
of his men ! Once he had left them for a while to find 
them, on his return, in battle and retreating. In- 
stantly he placed himself at their head mth the words, 
"The 'Stonewall Brigade' never retreats. Follow me 
back to the field!" 



THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON 343 

Jackson was stern in discipline. This was because 
he was so intensely in earnest. Once, when an early 
start was to be made, he ordered breakfast to be served 
to his staff officers at seven. Prompt to the hour 
appeared Jackson. The simple meal was ready, but 
where were the officers? ''Pour the coffee into the 
road!" ordered Jackson. It was done, and, in this 
way, a very effective lesson in promptness was taught. 

His men would have followed Jackson blindfold. 
"Jackson threw them into battle like the guns behind 
the galloping horses. He made them accomplish tasks 
amid the firing in which they grew twice their stature 
as soldiers, and then he gave them rest. When they 
saw . . . the odd grim figure of the being who bent 
them to these feats, they loved that man. ' Old Stone- 
wall' filled the soldier's eye like a battle flag. The 
sight of him brought out tears." 

Jackson was an earnest Christian. Every morning 
he read his Bible and then prayed. He never made a 
raid, or entered into battle without asking divine 
guidance and help. In the heat of the conflict he 
often prayed. Thousands saw his right arm and even 
both arms raised to heaven. Those nearer saw his 
lips move. "Like Joshua of old, he prayed with up- 
lifted hand for victory." 

After the second battle of Bull Run, or Manassas, 
Jackson and an army surgeon were sitting by the fire 
drinking coffee out of their tin cups. "We have won 



344 



FOUR CIVIL WAR GENERALS 



this battle by the hardest kind of fighting," said the 
surgeon. But Jackson's reply was "No, no; we have 
won it by the blessing of Almighty God." 



h 





Battle of Chancellorsville. 

Stonewall Jackson's victories had won him great 
renown. Everybody was anxious to see him, but he 
was so retiring in his habits that he shunned the public 
gaze. His dress was generally so shabby that many did 
not know him, even when they saw him on his old sorrel 
horse. Once he was riding with some of his officers 
through a field of oats. The owner ran after them in a 
rage, demanding Jackson's name, that he might report 
him at headquarters. 

"Jackson is my name, sir," rephed the general. 

"What Jackson?" inquired the farmer. 



PHILIP H. SHERIDAN 345 

"General Jackson." 

''What! Stonewall Jackson!" exclaimed the man 
in astonishment. 

"That is what they call me," replied Jackson. 

"General," said the man, taking off his hat, "ride 
over my w^hole held. Do whatever you like with it, 
sir." 

The death of Jackson was most tragic. Through a 
mistake, he was shot by his own men at Chancellors- 
ville. With a few officers, he had gone to reconnoiter 
the Federal position. On his return the little party 
were taken for the foe, and a whole regiment blazed 
out upon them. Jackson, severely wounded, was 
carried to the rear. It was hoped that he might recover, 
but he died after eight days with these beautiful words 
upon his lips, "Let us pass over the river and rest under 
the shade of the trees." 

PHILIP H. SHERIDAN 

"The Hannibal of the American war." 

General Sheridan was a younger man than either 
Grant or Sherman. He was just thirty years old at the 
outbreak of the Civil War. 

When Grant was made commander in chief, he went 
to Washington to discuss with the President and others 
the improvement of the service. He needed an able 
cavalry general. "I want," he said, "an active, en- 
ergetic man, full of life and spirit and power." 



346 FOUR CIVIL WAR GENER.\LS 

General Halleck asked, ''How would Sheridan do?'^ 

"The very man I want," said Grant and telegraphed 
to him that same hour. 

From this time Sheridan had great freedom. Grant 
told him what his general campaign should be, but 
trusted him to plan and act for himself. Sheridan never 
failed his superior, and his work in the Shenandoah valley 
and in the last days around Richmond was magnificent. 

It was during the Shenandoah campaign that the 
incident of the famous ride occurred. Sheridan had 
beaten General Early twice in one week. He had then 
gone to Washington on necessary business, but was 
hastening back to his army at Cedar Creek. By the 
evening of October eighteenth he reached Winchester, 
a town some twenty miles from Cedar Creek, where he 
spent the night. 

In the morning he heard guns, but thought, at first, 
that his officers were reconnoitering the position of the 
enemy. But the steady boom continued. Then 
Sheridan was certain that a battle was under way. He 
sprang upon his black horse, Rienzi, and spurred down 
the highway and across the fields, riding like mad. 

General Early had surprised the Union troops at 
dawn. He had defeated one corps and had driven the 
whole army back. Sheridan soon began to meet strag- 
glers, and he saw the army was discouraged but not 
demoralized. Those in retreat came face to face with 
a "man and beast covered with dust and foam." The 



PHILIP H. SHERIDAN 



347 



man "rose in his stirrups and, waving his hat and sword 
by turns, shouted, ' If I had been here, this would never 
have happened. We are going back. Face the other 
way, boys, face the other way ! ' The scattered soldiers, 
recognizing their general, took up the cry, ' Face the other 



way ! ' It passed along from one to another, 



and 




"Amid wild enthusiasm, Sheridan dashed on to the battlefield." 

the men returned in crowds, falling into ranks as they 
came." 

Amid wild enthusiasm, Sheridan dashed on to the 
battlefield, where the soldiers yet in line received him 
with exultant shouts of " Sheridan ! Sheridan ! " Caps 
were tossed in air, rifles were waved in frantic joy, and 
drooping battle flags seemed fairly to leap from the 
ground to greet him. The fight was renewed, and a 
decisive victory was won. ^'Such a reenforcement 
may one man be to an army." 



348 FOUR CIVIL WAR GENERALS 

Sheridan's comment was as follows : ''The big little 
fact in that fight was that the command was not 
whipped, and when I came along to tell them so, why, 
they beheved me and we went right back to prove it. 
Any reasonable man could see that." 

Sheridan's great merit was that he always proved 
equal to the ever increasing responsibilities that were 
put upon him. The three men who were given our 
highest mihtary title, — that of general, — were Grant, 
Sherman, and Sheridan. 

JAMES E. B. STUART 

As we have seen, the most brilliant cavalry officer 
in the Northern army was General Philip Sheridan. 
To oppose him the South had its Stonewall Jackson and 
its J. E. B. Stuart. 

" Jeb" Stuart, or ''Beauty" Stuart, as he was some- 
times called, was a gay, handsome, dashing young officer. 
He seemed to enjoy getting into perilous situations for 
the sake of seeing how cleverly he could make his 
escape. Once after he had slept all night on the porch 
of a house, he woke at dawn to see cavalry coming up 
the road. One of Stuart's officers rode towards them 
and was met by shots. This was enough for Jeb 
Stuart. His mare. Skylark, was grazing in the yard 
close at hand. He sprang to his feet, leaped upon the 
horse, and dashed away into the forest, while a wild 
storm of bullets rained around him. It was a narrow 



JAMES E. B. STUART 



349 



escape, indeed, for the Northern troopers raised from 
the porch floor an overcoat cape and a slouch hat, deco- 
rated with a silver star and a long black plume. This 
showed them how nearly they had captured the flower 
of Southern cavalry. 




The death of General Stuart. 

Stuart's training of new recruits was severe but 
effective. From the first, he sent these unseasoned 
volunteers to fight the enemy; he himself led them 
within the Northern lines. Then, when they were 
nearly surrounded, when they were all but captured, 
he would guide them safely out in some sudden and 
unforeseen way. He would not let them gallop in re- 
treat. That seemed to him cowardly. ''A gallop," 



350 FOUR CIVIL WAR GENER.\LS 

explained Stuart, "is a gait unbecoming a soldier unless 
he is going toward the enemy. Remember that. We 
gallop toward the enemy, and trot away always. 
Steady now! Don't break ranks!" The shells 
would be screaming all around them, but, catching 
their leader's spirit, they would retreat steadily, firmly, 
and coolly. Such training was grim, but it tempered 
the men to the finest quality. 

Once, in speaking of the war, Stuart said, "It is going 
to be a long and terrible one . . . and very few of us 
will see the end. All that I ask of fate is that I may be 
killed leading a cavalry charge." This wish was 
granted. During the final struggle around Richmond 
he "received his death wound riding at the head of his 
troopers." 



GREAT INDUSTRIES 

During the years since the Civil War the growth 
of the United States, as an agricultural and commercial 
nation, has been enormous. Certain great industries 
have developed to amazing proportions. These in- 
dustries are the raising of cotton and wheat, the grazing 
of cattle, and the mining of coal and iron. Let us 
study carefully the activities that give employment 
to millions of people and create great wealth in our vast 
country. 

A WORD ABOUT COTTON 

"Have you ever considered how important the cotton 
plant is ? About its little black seeds, no bigger than 
the seeds of a lemon, is wrapped the clothing of half 
the world." Furthermore, three fourths of all the 
cotton in the world is raised in the United States. This 
is because in the South we have almost perfect con- 
ditions for growth. Cotton needs great heat and 
abundant rainfall. Consequently it flourishes in the 
Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, 
and other southern states. Texas produces an enor- 
mous crop each year. 

As soon as the frost is out of the ground in early 

351 



352 GREAT INDUSTRIES 

spring, the plows are at work turning up the soil. 
Then, in March, the planting occurs. The brownish- 
black seeds are dropped into the fine mellow earth 
in rows about four feet apart. 

In a short time the tiny plants appear, making bright 
green stripes across the dark plowed fields. By mid- 
summer the upland cotton stands about three feet 
high. Its leaves look like those of the maple, and its 
flowers resemble the wild rose in shape and color. 
While the bushes are loaded with the exquisite blos- 
soms, the plantations are most beautiful sights. On 
the first day, the flower petals are white ; on the second 
day, they change to a lovely pink. Soon the petals 
fall, leaving a tiny green pod which later develops into 
the cotton boll. 

When the pod, or cotton boll, has matured, it bursts 
open, revealing within it a mass of cotton, — white as 
snow, soft as silk, light as thistledown. Buried in 
the midst of the cotton fibers are the small dark seeds. 

On looking more closely, however, you will discover 
that each white fiber is fastened to a seed. It clings 
so strongly that quite a little effort is required to sep- 
arate the two. 

The cotton is usually gathered by hand. Negro men, 
women, and children toil day after day in the fields, 
filling bags that are hung around their necks or waists. 
When the bags are filled, they are emptied into huge 
baskets standing at the ends of the rows. Carts drawn 



A WORD ABOUT COTTON 



353 



by mules or horses carry the cotton to the building 
where the ginning and baling are done. 




Picking cotton. 

Before the cotton fiber can be spun into thread, it 
has to be freed from those clinging black seeds. This 
was once a very slow process. A century ago a negro, 
working diligently all day, could gin but one pound 
of cotton. This step in preparing cotton for the market 
was so slow and so expensive that there was little profit 
in raising and manufacturing cotton. Comparatively 
few acres were then given over to its culture. But Eli 
Whitney's cotton gin changed all this. To-day the 
steam gin seeds fifteen bales of cotton or more in one 

COE M. — 23 



354 



GREAT INDUSTRIES 



day. A single gin thus does as much work as several 
thousand men in the olden days. 

Baling is the pressing of the cotton into a solid mass, 
or bale, weighing about five hundred pounds. In the 
same factory the bale is covered with coarse bagging 
and bound with iron bands, so that it is about as com- 
pact as a block of wood four feet square and five feet 
high. 

And now its travels begin. Either by train or boat 
it is sent north to the great cotton mills of New England. 
Perhaps it may even cross the ocean to England. There, 
in Lancashire County, more cotton is made into cloth 
than in any other place in the world. 

Of late years, mills have been built at the headwaters 
of the rivers in the southern states, so that the cotton 
may now become cloth close to its own home fields. 

About three fourths of the cotton manufactured in 
the United States is turned out by the manufactories 
in New England. In Fall River, alone, the cotton mills 
weave two miles of cloth a minute during every working 
day throughout the year. 

In colonial times the spinning and the weaving were 
done in the homes. During the long winter evenings 
or in the afternoons, when the cleaning and cooking were 
over for the time, the mother brought out her wheel 
or loom and with deft fingers spun the thread or wove 
the cloth for the family. 

To-day, all this laborious work is done by swift 



A WORD ABOUT COTTON 



355 



machinery. When the cotton bale is torn open, ma- 
chines begin at once to free the fiber from all cHnging 
leaves, twigs, or dust. It is blown upon and beaten 
by powerful engines until it is clean and fair as the 
driven snow. The next step is the carding. The 




Interior of a cotton mill. 

fibers of the cotton come from the bale much tangled 
and need to be straightened. Great rollers, studded 
with close fine wire teeth, gnash and gnaw at the mass 
of cotton, until all the fibers lie smooth and straight in 
a soft white thick rope. 

This rope is then passed through several machines. 
At length it appears as a fine cotton thread, ready to be 
used in the making of cloth. 



356 GREAT INDUSTRIES 

In the great cotton mills the process of weaving cot- 
ton thread into cloth is accomplished by hundreds of 
power looms run by steam and electricity. These giant 
world forces have taken the place of frail human hands. 
Thunder go the wheels and cogs and bands, and the 
millions of threads dart in and out and to and fro, and 
the yards of beautiful firm cotton whirl out from what 
seems, to visitors, a bewildering tangle of machinery. 

Calicoes, cambrics, ginghams, muslins, laces, em- 
broideries, towels, sheetings, cotton batting, and spool 
cotton — all these are made from the contents of the 
cotton boll. Who can tell where any particular yard 
of cloth will go ? About one half the people of the 
world wear cotton now, and the number is growing 
every year. As has been said, "we are tied with cotton 
thread to almost every nation, people, and tribe upon 
this big round earth." 

THE STORY OF BREAD 

One of the greatest farm crops in the United States 
is wheat. Wheat, which is made into flour and then 
into bread, is the most common article of food for the 
white races of the world. 

As that race forms one third of the world's population, 
hundreds of square miles of the earth's surface must 
be given over to growing wheat. One fifth of all the 
wheat of the world is grown in the United States. It 
is raised in forty- two of our states and territories, and 



THE STORY OF BREAD 



357 




A steam plow. 



in some of these states it forms the chief wealth. The 
north central states and the states of the Pacific 
coast are the leaders in the product. 

The western wheat farms are so large that you could 
ride horseback over them for days and then not see 
the whole farm. The work of planting and harvesting 
requires the labor of hundreds of men and horses and 
of scores of machines. 



358 GREAT INDUSTRIES 

Once the American farmer with his hired help did 
all the work by hand upon his few acres. But now all 
toil is wonderfully lightened by the inventions of 
farm machines. Plows drawn by three horses or six 
make the " mile-long furrow" ; the harrow follows behind 
to soften the earth. The planting drills are large 
wooden boxes on wheels which are drawn by horses. 
Into these drills the wheat is poured by sackfuls. In 
the floor of the drill is a row of holes, each of which opens 
into a tube. Through these tubes the kernels flow in 
regular order and so drop into the ground. A small 
plow is placed behind each tube to cover the seed with 
soil, as the planting drill moves o\Tr the field. Some- 
times, instead of horses, engines moved by steam are 
used. These plow, harrow, and plant, all at the same 
time. 

The days pass. Sun and rain do their work, and one 
day the owner sees that the black fields are tinged with 
spring green. The sharp thin wheat blades are pierc- 
ing the ground. Taller and taller they grow. They 
almost seem to gallop, so rich is the deep prairie soil. 
In time each blade has become a stalk that reaches 
waist high, and, at its end, clusters of kernels are be- 
ginning to form. Each cluster is called a head and 
yields from twenty to thirty kernels. 

Green, green, green, — the wheat field shimmers in 
the sunlight. The hot days pass, and a change is mani- 
fest. The field is no longer green but golden, and the 



THE STORY OF BREAD 359 

wheat heads are drooping with the weight of the rip- 
ened seeds. The time for harvest has come. 

Then other new and wonderful machines take the 
field. First is the cutter and binder. This invention 
cuts the grain and then binds great armfuls of it into 
sheaves. These are left to stand in the fields awhile 
to dry. The thresher next takes its turn. It sepa- 
rates the stalk from the precious seed. Henceforth 
the stalk is known as straw. Once all this labor 
of cutting, binding, and threshing was done by hand. 
To-day these many machines make it possible to 
raise, harvest, market, and sell wheat far more cheaply 
than if man did all the work. The horse is being 
displaced by powerful machines. As a negro once 
said, ''De white man he done fust free de nigger and 
now he done free de mule !" 

The wheat is next taken to the railroad station, 
either loose or in bags. The train carries it to the 
nearest city that has a large grain elevator. On its 
arrival at the grain elevator, the grain is examined 
and graded. The owner is then credited with the 
amount and informed of its grade. Then the wheat 
is stored, until wanted, in the lofty building of many 
stories, known as the grain elevator. Some of these 
elevators are so large that they are able to hold several 
million bushels at a time. Grain elevators at our sea 
and river ports are contrived so that vessels can be 
filled from their bins. Long pipes can be thrust from 



360 



GREAT INDUSTRIES 



the storage bin into the hold of the steamer, which may 
be rapidly filled. 

The steps by which the grain is made into flour 
are many. First comes the separating. By this pro- 
cess the grains of wheat are freed from any grass, buck- 




A wheat field. 



wheat, or mustard seed that may have been mixed with 
them. Then the tiny hard wheat grains are cleaned 
thoroughly by means of brushes and vigorous currents 
of air. What follows is a succession of crushings and 
sif tings, which end when the wheat has become the 
light, fine, snowy product we call flour. 

The toil of the world is in that wholesome sweet loaf 
on the table before us. Thus is planted, harvested, 
and milled our daily bread. 



A WORD ABOUT CATTLE 361 

A WORD ABOUT CATTLE 

Fortunes are made annually in the growing, mar- 
keting, and manufacturing of cotton and wheat. An- 
other great source of American wealth is in the raising 
of cattle and the shipment of meat to all parts of our 
own country and to Europe. 

Cattle supply us with dairy products and with meat. 
Unlike most countries we have such an abundance of 
meat that every man, woman, and child in the United 
States can eat it daily, and still there will be huge 
quantities left for Europe and the rest of the world. 
The United States furnishes more meat to the world 
than any other country. The reasons for this are 
threefold : first, we have abundant pasture land ; 
second, we raise quantities of maize and other fatten- 
ing foods ; and third, our railroads and steamship 
lines give good and cheap transportation. Because 
of all these conditions, we are able to market meat prof- 
itably in many sections of the world. 

Every prosperous eastern farmer has some cattle 
on his farm, but to see how they are raised in thousands 
we must seek the West. 

Years ago, much of the land west of the Mississippi 
River consisted of great open stretches of country, 
covered with sage brush, sand, and grass. The grass 
was so poor and thin that often fifteen acres could pas- 
ture but one animal. Much of this land belonged to the 



362 



GREAT INDUSTRIES 



government, but any one could graze his animals upon 

it who willed. These great unfenced stretches of land 

were called the ranges. 

From the first, the problem of water was a serious 

one in this western desert. Men began to take up 

claims along 
the streams 
and rivers. 
Here they built 
their houses, 
barns, stables, 
and here they 
raised corn and 
alfalfa and laid 
out little gar- 
den patches so 
that they might 
enjoy fresh 
vegetables and 
fruits on their 
home tables. 
This was the 
beginning of a 

A group of cowboys. ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ 

farm. Sometimes these ranchers fenced in their claims, 
but often the cattle from many ranches were allowed 
to roam freely over the unfenced waste lands. 

The cattle are cared for by cattlemen, or ''cowboys," 




A WORD ABOUT CATTLE 363 

as they are called. The cowboy is a picturesque figure, 
— • with muscles like steel and face and arms bronzed 
by his life in the open. His dress consists of corduroy 
or sheepskin trousers, flannel shirt, a broad-brimmed 
hat, and high riding boots. Over his arm or at his 
belt he carries a coil of rope, which is used for lassoing 
the cattle. The cowboy is, of course, a skillful rider, 
since much of his life is spent in the saddle. 

The cowboy is out in all kinds of weather. He often 
rides for days at a time and, when night comes on, he 
camps where the darkness happens to find him. 
Wrapped in his heavy blanket, he sleeps peacefully on 
the hard ground with no light but the stars. Perhaps a 
blizzard awakes him at dawn. Then he must seek the 
cattle, to see that they are properly fed. Other foes 
that the cowboy has to fight are wild animals and 
prairie fires. You can see that such a life is full of 
adventure and sudden tests of a man's courage. 

What the cowboy most enjoys in his year's toil are 
the '^ round-ups." These come in the spring and fall, 
and last for days. The roving cattle on the ranges 
must be gathered together, or rounded-up, so that 
each owner may sort his own, number them, and brand 
the little calves that have been born since the last 
round-up. All the cowboys of the locality are busy 
for days driving the v/andering cattle towards one 
spot. There they are at last, in one huddling, restless, 
bellowing, lowing mass. Then each cowboy begins 



364 GREAT INDUSTRIES 

to sort out his employer's oxen, cows, and calves. He 
knows them by a brand upon the side or flank. As 
for the unbranded calves, they, of course, follow their 
mothers. Perhaps a calf, bewildered by the uproar, 
tries to make for the open. A cowboy follows on his 
pony and throws his lasso so as to fetter the little 
creature's hind legs. The pony knows exactly what to 
do. He braces himself, and the sudden tightening of 
the rope brings the calf to the ground. Lying on its 
side, it is dragged towards a fire, kindled on the ground. 
Here it is that the irons are heated. The struggling 
calf is firmly held by two men, — one sitting on his 
head and the other drawing out his foot in such a way 
as to pull the skin taut upon his body. The brand 
is promptly applied and, in a moment, the owner's 
mark is fixed for life. 

To-day a great change has come over the methods 
upon the ranch. The old recklessness, the haphazard, 
go-as-you-please life is at an end. Now the business 
has become a chemical proposition. The fattening 
qualities of the different foods are studied and often, 
when the grass runs short, the cattle are fed with 
specially prepared fodder, brought from a distance at 
great expense. 

Further east, upon the farms situated in the great 
corn belt, even more cattle are raised than upon the 
wide ranches. 

The great slaughtering centers are, for the most part. 



A WORD ABOUT CATTLE 



365 



in the middle west, — at Chicago, Kansas City, and 
Omaha. Towards the south, the largest is at Fort 
Worth in Texas. 

The Union Stock Yards of Chicago are the largest 
in the world. Many thousands of people are employed 




Union Stock Yards in Chicago. 

there daily. Great numbers of cattle are hourly 
brought by trains to the stockyards. The toilers in 
the stockyards unload, weigh, and examine them, and 
at the proper time give them to the commission mer- 
chant to be sold. In order that the cattle may be at 
their best when they are sold, they remain for twenty- 
four hours in the pens. This gives them a good rest 
after the long journey. The inclosures, or pens, contain 
feeding racks, watering troughs, and sheds for the hous- 



366 GREAT INDUSTRIES 

ing of the creatures. The Union Stock Yards cover a 
square mile, and it is one of the great sights of Chicago 
to climb to the roof of some tall building near at hand 
to view the yards. The pens stretch away in 
all directions like the squares of a checkerboard. 
What tossing of horns, what stamping of hoofs, what 
bellowing and lowing ! It would seem as if all were 
hurly-burly down there, but it is not so. Each animal 
is in exactly his right place. 

Chicago is famous for its preparing and packing of 
meat. The slaughterhouses are close at hand. With 
incredible swiftness and sureness the steer or cow is 
killed, cut up, cooled, cured, and packed for transporta- 
tion. There are wonderful machines to accomplish 
this great task. 

Not a bit of the animal is wasted. Hair, hide, 
horns, hoofs, teeth, bones, and even blood are all 
used. Oil, glue, and leather are valuable secondary 
products of the meat industry of Chicago. 

Not only our meats, both fresh and salted, are sent 
to Europe, but the live cattle also. Our steamers and 
trains are now so swift and the quarters upon them so 
excellent that the cattle reach Europe in the best 
condition. 

Cattle and meat are also exported to Europe from 
the downs of AustraHa and the pampas plains of South 
America. But the United States, in this industry, 
easily leads the world. 



A WORD ABOUT COAL 367 

A WORD ABOUT COAL 

The United States is exceedingly rich in mineral 
deposits. Of all these minerals, coal is the most 
useful. We have over three hundred thousand square 
miles of coal fields in the United States. This is a coal 
area equal in size to eight states the size of Ohio. 

Up to the year 1899, Great Britain was the leading 
nation in the amount of coal produced. In 1899 
our country surpassed Great Britain, and has kept 
the lead ever since. England, however, with her coal 
mines close to her harbors, exports more coal than 
does the United States. Still New York is, next to 
London, the greatest coal market in the world. 

Much of our prosperity as a manufacturing and 
commercial nation is due to our great wealth in coal. 
We can run factories, trains, and steamships cheaply, 
because we are coal millionaires. The "black dia- 
monds" are worth their weight in gold. 

There are two chief varieties of coal, — the anthra- 
cite and the bituminous. The anthracite is hard and 
glossy. It burns with great heat but with little smoke. 
The bituminous coal is much softer and has a dull 
luster. It gives off much smoke when burning. 

Nearly all the anthracite coal in the United States 
is found in eastern Pennsylvania. A little, however, is 
found in Colorado and New Mexico. The yearly output 
of the anthracite mines is seventy-five million long tons. 



368 



GREAT INDUSTRIES 



Now let US visit a coal mine, that we may see for 
ourselves how fuel is obtained. Here is a great shaft 
which has been sunk into the ground for several hundred 
feet. It looks like an enormous well. There are cars, 
or cages, not unlike elevators, which run up and down 
in the shaft. By these cars the coal is taken out and 

the men and the 
mules enter and 
leave the mine. 
Now it is our 
turn to drop into 
the underground 
darkness. In this 
mine there are 
three deposits of 
coal, one above 
the other. Each is called a tunnel, and there are men 
at work in each tunnel. We will stop at the second 
level, or the middle tunnel. 

As we leave the cage, what meets the eyeS and ears 
is bewildering. Confused sounds of drills, picks, clat- 
tering carts, and blasting disturb our ears, while a line 
of sparkling lights stretch away from us into the gloom. 
These electric lights mark the gangway, or chief 
avenue of the mine. Tracks are laid here, over which 
run the cars laden with coal. P'ormerly these cars 
were drawn by mules which were driven by boys. 
To-day, however, electricity is being rapidly introduced. 




In a coal mine. 



A WORD ABOUT COAL 369 

At regular and irregular intervals pillars of coal are 
left to support the roof of the mine. If this were not 
done, there would be disastrous cavings in, resulting 
in much loss of life. 

Branching out of the main gangway are side passages 
with car rails also. With its main avenues and smaller 
streets and lanes, the mine is exactly like some under- 
ground city. The network leads away into mysterious 
and terrible darkness, where we might easily lose our- 
selves forever in this world. We are glad of our guide 
and glad of the miner's lights which have been given 
us on entering the mine. 

Here is a cavelike chamber where two miners are at 
work. They are partners, or "butties." They supply 
their own tools and hire their own laborers, usually 
two in number. 

The miners work with a pick until they have prepared 
a place suitable' for drilling. Then a hole some five 
feet deep is made, the powder and fuse are arranged, 
and the opening is filled with earth. Next the fuse 
is lighted, the warning cry of ''fire" is shouted, and the 
miners retire to a safe distance. 

There is a dull explosion, and a great mass of the coal 
falls from its place in the ceiling or wall of the cave. 
Then a fresh drilling is made, and so the work goes on. 
The partners mine from two and a half to five tons of 
coal a day. The company pay them for the amount 
of coal delivered. The work is hard, because the men 

COE M. — 24 



370 GREAT INDUSTRIES 

work in such cramped positions, sometimes lying on 
their sides or backs for hours at a time. The days, 
however, are not long, for often the miners leave at 
noon. The laborers they employ break up the coal, 
load it into cars, and send it thence to the shaft. 

The miner's Kfe is one girt about with peril. There 
is danger from the falling of the roof or of the pillars. 
There is danger from the blasting. There is very great 
danger from fire damp and choke damp, — two gases 
that are given off in the mine. Fire damp is inflam- 
mable and very explosive. Miners are not allowed to 
smoke pipes on account of the chance that the light 
may ignite the fire damp and cause the death of those 
near at hand, even if not disaster to the whole mine. 
The deadly choke damp is a still more dangerous enemy. 
It collects on the ground without warning and destroys 
many an unsuspecting workman. Truly this is a life 
of hard toil and menacing terror, yet always there are 
boyish recruits ready to tend doors and to do the odd 
chores underground, until they are strong enough 
for the task of the laborer or the miner. 

Lads sometimes begin work at the mines as breaker 
boys. The anthracite coal leaves the mine in too bulky 
a form for commerce. It must be broken up by being 
passed through many revolving cylinders, each armed 
with big iron teeth. These machines are called break- 
ers. Boys are seated at intervals by the breakers, and 
as the river of coal passes by them, they remove bits of 



A WORD ABOUT COAL 371 

slate and other foreign material that would not burn. 
Long practice makes them very skillful at this task. 




Boys in a coal breaker. 

Machiner}^, however, is replacing the breaker boys in 
many mines. 

The anthracite coal passes through a series of screens 
which sort it into the various sizes of coal known in 
commerce as egg, stove, nut, and buckwheat. 

The bituminous, or soft coal, does not need to pass 
through the breakers. It is, however, often washed 
before it is shipped to the markets. 

The uses of coal are many. In our houses it serves 
as an excellent fuel both for heating and cooking. It 
drives locomotives and steamships, and moves the 
complicated machinery of great manufactories. In 



372 GREAT INDUSTRIES 

smelting, coal is most useful in extracting iron and other 
minerals from their ores. From bituminous coal an 
excellent illuminating gas is made. From coal tar 
benzine is made, and from benzine come the aniline 
dyes, so useful in dyeing and in calico printing. Aniline 
dyes have to-day taken the place of the animal and 
vegetable colors formerly used in these processes. 

A WORD ABOUT IRON 

When walking or driving, you often have noticed 
earth or clay of a yellow or reddish color. This color 
is caused by iron in the soil. Iron is a very common 
mineral. All rocks and earths have at least traces of 
it, while large deposits are found in nearly every country 
in the world. 

Iron is not found as a pure metal. It occurs as an 
ore. By an ore we mean a mixture of the mineral 
with certain impurities which must be driven away, if 
we need the pure metal. 

The deposits of iron ore are made by means of water, 
which is always trickling through the soil. This water 
dissolves the iron, carries it a certain distance, and there 
deposits it. Thus, in time, beds or veins of iron ore are 
formed at this place. Underground water is the agent 
preparing this rich treasure for man to discover later. 

Suppose you could choose the place for an iron mine. 
If you were wise, you would plan for two essentials. 
The mine must not be too far from people, and it must 



A WORD ABOUT IRON 



373 



be reasonably near coal. The form of soft coal known 
as coke is used in separating the iron from its ore. 
This process is known as smelting. We are very for- 
tunate in the United States in having great coal and 
iron mines as near neighbors. This is the case in Penn- 
sylvania and Ala- 
bama. Other states 
with rich iron de- 
posits are New 
York, New Jersey, 
Virginia, West Vir- 
ginia, Ohio, Illi- 
nois, and Missouri. 
More than thirty 
million tons of iron 
are produced yearly 
in the United 
States. We mine 
all that we need for 
our own use, but we do not export the raw material to 
other countries, as does Great Britain. What we do 
export is our manufactured iron and steel. 

Iron ore is mined in two ways. When the beds of 
iron ore are found deep down in the earth, the work 
goes on much as it does in coal mines. When the iron 
ore is found near the surface of the earth, it is taken out 
of open pits just as stone is taken from a quarry. There 
are steam shovels that dig up the ore and pitch it into 




An iron mine. 



374 



GREAT INDUSTRIES 



hopper cars. These cars run up and down hill, from 
the mine at the top, to the lake, river, or sea below. 
As the loaded cars run down, their weight draws up 
the empty ones. Close beside the lake, the cars are 
emptied into coal bunkers, or bins. Shoots lead from 
these bunkers into the holds of the steam barges. 
Everything moves so smoothly and easily that a 6000 
ton barge can be loaded in less than two hours. The 
mine owners send the iron ore to the coal region for 
smelting. This is because it is cheaper to ship the ore 
to the coal rather than vice versa. 

The smelting process is most interesting. To sep- 
arate the iron from its ore requires great heat. The 
fuel used is coke. Into a great blast furnace one hun- 
dred feet high are tumbled the three ingredients, — 
coke, iron ore, and limestone. As the burning and 
melting proceed, the heat is multiplied by the forcing 
of great blasts of air through the furnace. This is 
done by means of air pumps, worked by powerful steam 
engines. During the smelting, the impurities in the 
ore unite with the limestone to form slag. The slag 
is Ught and worthless matter that is drawn out at the 
top of the furnace. The heavier iron sinks downward, 
and is later drawn out of the lower part of the furnace. 

Next it is cooled in a singular way. Beside the 
blast furnace is a great floor of sand. The sand is not 
spread evenly. It is arranged in trenches from which 
narrower and narrower trenches lead off with great 



A WORD ABOUT IRON 



375 



regularity. The molten iron flows through all this 
network of paths, being guided and hurried along by 
men armxed with a curious kind of long-handled hoe. 
The workmen are anxious to fill all the trenches before 
the iron begins to cool. 

The iron in the smallest trenches weighs about one 
hundred pounds and is called a ''pig." It is light 
enough to be handled with ease. 

In trade we know three kinds of iron, — cast iron, 
wrought iron, and steel. Cast iron is merely pig iron 
that has been melted and cast into molds. Cast iron 





mmmmu^mmm^am^K^^^^m^'i 




i 
i 


^sHI 




"TT r^T? . ■ -., 




*»- > 







Casting pig iron. 

is very useful. Pots, kettles, flatirons, stoves, the 
supports of your school desks, and many other objects 
are made of it. It has one disadvantage. It is very 
brittle and, under heavy blows, will break easily. 



376 GREAT INDUSTRIES 

Wrought iron is pig iron that is free from carbon 
and other impurities. It is very malleable. This 
means that it can be easily rolled into bars, rods, 
and sheets, or plates. All this work is done in the 
rolling mills. Wrought iron was once used to make 
delicate or intricate articles for which steel is now 
employed. 

Steel is by far the most useful form of iron that we 
have. If a certain amount of pig iron is made into 
steel, it is worth several times as much as before. To 
make steel, pig iron is melted a second time, and 
almost all the carbon is burned away. This makes a 
very hard, strong, durable metal. 

There is not space to name all the articles in common 
use that are made from steel. They vary in size from 
an ocean steamer to a watch spring. The sky scrapers 
of New York and Chicago — buildings of twenty 
stories or more — have frames of steel. Built in this 
way, they are stronger than wooden buildings of but 
six or eight stories in height. Rails for railroads, once 
of iron, are now made of steel. This change makes it 
possible for a locomotive to draw a much heavier load 
than it once did. A few smaller articles made of steel 
are knife blades, wire nails, and hooks. 

The United States makes the cheapest and best iron 
and steel in the world. This is because our inventors 
have made most efficient machinery for mining, trans- 
porting, and manufacturing pig iron and steel. 



LIST OF DATES 

1753. Benjamin Franklin, postmaster-general of the 

colonies. 

1754. Franklin's plan of union rejected. 

1763. French and Indian War ended by Treaty of Paris. 
Patrick Henry argues the " Parsons' Cause." 

1764. Samuel Adams denies the right of England to tax 

Americans without representation. 

1765. Stamp Act. 

Patrick Henry speaks against the Act. 
Franklin in England petitions against the Act. 
Steam engine invented by James Watt. 

1766. Stamp Act repealed. 

1768. England sends two regiments to Boston. 

1769. Junipero Serra establishes the mission of San 

Diego, July 16. 
Daniel Boone visits Kentucky. 
James Robertson explores eastern Tennessee. 

1770. Boston Massacre, March 5. 

1772. John Sevier joins the Watauga settlements. 

1773. Boston '' Tea Party," December 16. 

1774. First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Sep- 

tember 5. 

1775. Boonesborough is built. 
Paul Revere's ride, April 18. 

Battles of Lexington and Concord, April 19. 
Ethan Allen captures Ticonderoga, May 10. 
Second Continental Congress, May 10. 

377 



378 LIST OF DATES 

Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17. 
Washington takes command of the Continental 
army, July 3. 

1776. Franklin sent to obtain aid from France. 
British driven out of Boston, March 17. 
Declaration of Independence, July 4. 
Indian attack on Watauga, July 21. 
Battle of Long Island, August 27. 
Nathan Hale hanged as a spy, September. 
Washington captures the Hessians at Trenton, De- 
cember 26. 

1777. British plan to capture the Hudson valley. 

Gen. Stark routs the British at Bennington, August 
16. 

Burgoyne beaten in two battles at Freeman's 
Farm, September 19 and October 7. 

Howe and Washington maneuvering around Phila- 
delphia, September and October. 

Surrender of Burgoyne's army, October 17. 

1778. The Drake surrenders to Captain Paul Jones, April. 
Kaskaskia taken by George R. Clark, July. 
Indian attack on Boonesborough, August. 

1779. Clark's expedition against Vincennes, February. 
Battle between the Bon Homme Richard and the 

Serapis, September 23. 

1780. Sevier wins the battle of Kings Mountain, October 7. 

1 78 1. Gen. Morgan defeats the British at the Cowpens, 

January 17. 
Gen. Greene worsted at Guilford Court House, 

March 15. 
Comwallis besieged in Yorktown by Lafayette, 

August. 
Cornwallis surrenders to Washington, October 19. 



LIST OF DATES 



379 



1783. Peace concluding the Revolution, September. 
1787. Constitution of the United States, September. 

1789. Washington inaugurated first President, April 30. 

1790. Death of Franklin, April 17. 

1 79 1. National capital located on the Potomac River and 

named Washington, September. 
1793. Whitney invents the cotton gin. 

1800. Napoleon acquires Louisiana from Spain, October. 
Congress meets for the first time in Washington, 

November 17. 

1801. Thomas Jefferson, third President. 
1803. Louisiana purchased from France, April. 

Lewis and Clark start out to explore Louisiana, 
November. 
1805. Lewis and Clark reach the mouth of the Columbia 
River, November 7. 

1807. Robert E. Lee, born, January 19. 
Fulton's first trip in the Clermont, August. 

1808. Slave importation stopped by the Constitution. 

1809. Abraham Lincoln, born, February 12. 
1813. Jackson's campaign against the Creeks. 

1815. Sam Houston at battle of Horseshoe Bend, March. 

Jackson wins the battle of New Orleans, January 8. 
181 7. Work begun on the Erie Canal, July. 

Jackson's campaign against the Seminoles. 

1819. Purchase of Florida. 

1820. Missouri Compromise. 

1825. Erie Canal opened, October 26. 

1829. Andrew Jackson, seventh President. 

1830. Webster's reply to Hayne, January. 
Peter Cooper builds the Tom Thumb. 

1832. South Carolina, under the leadership of Calhoun, 
threatens secession, November. 



380 LIST OF DATES 

1833. Compromise proposed by Henry Clay. 

1835. Samuel Morse at work on the telegraph. 

1836. Defense of the Alamo, March 6. 
Battle of San Jacinto, April 21. 
Texas independent of Mexico, June. 

1842. Webster-Ashburton Treaty, August 9. 

1843. Fremont and Carson explore California. 

1844. First telegraphic message sent. May 24. 

1845. Texas annexed to the United States, December. 
1848. Gold discovered in Cahfornia, January. 

Close of the war with Mexico. 
1850. Clay proposes another Compromise. 

Webster's " Seventh of March " speech. 

California admitted to the Union. 
1854. Kansas-Nebraska bill. 
1858. Lincoln-Douglas debates. 
i860. Lincoln's speech at Cooper Union, February. 

Lincoln elected sixteenth President, November. 

1861. Fort Sumter surrenders, April 14. 
First battle of Bull Run, July 21. 

1862. Second battle of Bull Run, August 28. 
Battle of Antietam, September 22. 

1863. Emancipation of the slaves, January i. 

Lee defeats Hooker at Chancellorsville, January 25. 
Union victory at Gettysburg, July 1-3. 

1864. Grant's campaign around Richmond, May. 
Sheridan's famous ride, October 19. 
Lincoln reelected, November. 

1865. Fall of Petersburg, April 3. 

Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox, April 9. 
Lincoln assassinated, April 14. 
1869. Grant, eighteenth President. 



BOOKS FOR FURTHER READING 

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 

America's Story for America's Children, Vol. V. Mara L. Pratt- 
Chadwick. D. C. Heath & Co. 

American Fights and Fighters. Cyrus T. Brady. Doubleday, 
Page & Co. 

American Hero Stories. Eva March Tappan. Houghton, Mif- 
flin Co. 

American Leaders and Heroes. W. F. Gordy. Charles Scribner's Sons. 

Boston Town. Horace E. Scudder. Houghton, Mifflin Co. 

Boys of '76. C. C. Coffin. Harper Brothers. 

Builders of Our Country, Book II. Gertrude Van Duyn South- 
worth. D. Appleton & Co. 

Camps and Firesides of the Revolution. A. B. Hart. Macmillan Co. 

Conquest of the Old Northwest. James Baldwin. American Book 
Co. 

The Crossing. Winston Churchill. Macmillan Co. 

Daughters of the Revolution and their Times. C. C. Coffin. Hough- 
ton, Mifflin Co. 

Explorers and Founders of America. Foote and Skinner. Ameri- 
can Book Co. 

Famous American Statesmen. S. K. Bolton. Crowell & Co. 

Four American Naval Heroes. M. B. Beebe. American Book Co. 

Four Great Americans. James Baldwin. American Book Co. 

From Colony to Commonwealth. Nina M. Tiffany. Ginn & Co. 

George Rogers Clark. F. T. Turner. Houghton, Mifflin Co. 

Grandfather's Chair. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Houghton, Mif- 
flin Co. 

Grandmother's Story of Bunker Hill Battle. Oliver Wendell 
Holmes. Houghton, Mifflin Co. 

Hero Stories from American History. Blaisdell and Ball. 
Ginn & Co. 

Hero Tales from American History. Roosevelt and Lodge. Cen- 
tury Co. 

hidependence Bell. Anonymous. 

Life of George Washington. Horace E. Scudder. Houghton, 
Mifflin Co. 

Makers atui Defenders of America. Foote and Skinner. American 
Book Co. 

381 



382 



BOOKS FOR FURTHER READING 



Noted Speeches. Daniel Webster. Moffat, Yard & Co. 

Paul Jones. H. Hapgood. Houghton, Mifflin Co. 

Paul Revere's Ride. H. W. Longfellow. Houghton, Mifflin Co. 

Pioneers of the Mississippi Valley. C. A. McMurry. Macmil- 

lan Co. 
Pioneers of the Revolution. M. L. Pratt- Chad wick. Public School 

Publishing Co. 
Poems of American Patriotism. Brander Matthews. Charles 

Scribner's Sons. 
Revolutionary Stories Retold from St. Nicholas. Century Co. 
Short {A) History of the Revolution. E. T. Tomlinson. Silver, 

Burdett & Co. 
Siege of Boston {The). A. French. Macmillan Co. 
Song of Marion's Men. W. C. Bryant. Houghton, Mifflin Co. 
Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans. Edward Eggles- 

TON. American Book Co. 
Stories of New Jersey. F. R. Stockton. American Book Co. 
Stories of Our Country. James Johonnot. American Book Co. 
Stories of the Old Bay State. E. S. Brooks. American Book Co. 
Stories of the Old Dominion. J. E. Cooke. American Book Co. 
Story of the Great Republic (The). H. A. Guerber. American 

Book Co. 
Story of Massachusetts (The). E. E. Hale. Lothrop, Lee & 

Shepard. 
True Story of Lafayette (The). E. S. Brooks. Lothrop, Lee & 

Shepard. 
Twelve Naval Captains. 
War for Independence 

Burdett & Co. 



M. E. Seawell. Charles Scribner's Sons. 
(The). Everett T. Tomlinson. Silver, 



OUR EARLY PRESIDENTS 

American Hero Stories. E. M. Tappan. Houghton, Mifflin Co. 
Builders of Our Country, Book II. G. Van D. Southworth. D. 

Appleton & Co. 
Building of the Nation. C. C. Coffin. Harper Bros. 
Discovery of the Old Northwest (The). James Baldwin. American 

Book Co. 
Four American Explorers. N. F. Kingsley. American Book Co. 
George Washington. N. Hapgood. Macmillan Co. 
Lewis and Clark. W. R. Lighton. Houghton, Mifflin Co. 
Life of George Washington. Horace Scudder. Houghton, Mifflin Co. 
Louisiana Purchase. Ripley Hitchcock. Ginn & Co. 
Our Country's Story. Eva March Tappan. Houghton, Mifflin Co. 
Pioneers of the Rocky Mountains and the West. Chas. A. McMurry. 

Macmillan Co. 



BOOKS FOR FURTHER READING 383 

Stories of the Old Bay State. E. S. Brooks. American Book Co. 
Story of the Great Republic (The). H. A. Guerber. American 
Book Co. 

GREAT INVENTIONS 

American Hero Stories. Eva March Tappan. Houghton, Mif- 
flin Co. 
American Inventions and Inventors. Wm. A. Mowry. Silver, 

Burdett & Co. 
Builders of Our Country, Book II. G. Van Duyn Southworth. 

D. Appleton & Co. 
Children's Stories of American Progress. H. C. Wright. Charles 

Scribner's Sons. 
Children's Stories of the Great Scientists. H. C. Wright. Charles 

Scribner's Sons. 
Days and Deeds a Hundred Years ago. G. L. Stone and M. G. 

FiCKETT. D. C. Heath & Co. 
How Our Grandfathers Lived. A. B. Hart. Macmillan Co. 
Story of the Great Republic {The). H. A. Guerber. American 

Book Co. 

THE WEST AND THE SOUTHWEST 

Boy Emigrants (The). N. Brooks. Charles Scribner's Sons. 
Pioneers of the Rocky Mountains and the West. Charles A. Mc- 

MuRRY. Macmillan Co. 
Spanish in the Southwest (The). R. V. Winterburn. American 

Book Co. 
Story of the Great Republic (The). H. A. Guerber. 
Under Six Flags. M. E. Davis. Ginn & Co. 
Four American Explorers. N. F. Kingsley. American Book Co. 

BEFORE THE WAR 

An American Book of Golden Deeds. James Baldwin. American 

Book Co. 
Builders of Our Country, Book II. G. Van D. Southworth. D. 

Appleton & Co. 
Four Great Americans. James Baldwin. American Book Co. 
Stories of the Old Bay State. E. S. Brooks. American Book Co. 
Story of the Great Republic {The). H. A. Guerber. American 

Book Co. 

THE CIVIL WAR 

Abraham Lincoln. James Baldwin. American Book Co. 
Abraham Lincoln: The Man of the People. N. Hapgood. Mac- 
millan Co. 



384 BOOKS FOR FURTHER READING 

Abraham Lincoln for Boys and Girls. Charles W. Moores. Hough- 
ton, Mifflin Co. 

Boy's Life of A braham Lincoln {The) . Helen Nicolay. Century Co. 

Boy's Life of General Grant. Thomas W. Knox. Merriam Co. 

Builders of Our Country, Book II. G. Van D. Southworth. 
D. Appleton & Co. 

Children's Life of Abraham Lincoln. M. L. Putnam. A. C. Mc- 
Clurg & Co. 

Civil War Stories Retold from St. Nicholas. Century Co. 

Commemoration Ode {The). James Russell Lowell. Houghton, 
Mifflin Co. 

Famous Adventures and Prison Escapes of the Civil War. Century Co. 

Four American Patriots. H. H. Burton. American Book Co. 

In the Boyhood of Lincoln. Hezekiah Butterworth. D. Apple- 
ton & Co. 

Jed, a Boy's Adventures in the Army '61-65. Warren L. Goss. 
Crowell & Co. 

Captain! My Captain! Walt Whitman. Webster & Co. 

Page Story Book {The). T. N. Page. Charles Scribner's Sons. 

Pioneers of the Mississippi Valley. C. A. McMurry. Macmillan Co. 

Recollections of a Drummer Boy. H. M. Kieffer. Houghton, 
Mifflin Co. 

Robert E. Lee. W. P. Trent. Small, Maynard & Co. 

Romance of the Civil War {The). A. B. Hart. Macmillan Co. 

Sheridan's Ride. Thos. Buchanan Read. 

Poems of American History. Burton E. Stevenson. Houghton, 
Mifflin Co. 

Stories of the Old Bay State. E. S. Brooks. American Book Co. 

Story of the Great Republic {The). H. A. Guerber. American 
Book Co. 

True Story of U. S. Grant {The). E. S. Brooks. Lothrop, Lee & 
Shepard. 

GREAT INDUSTRIES 

Foods and Their Uses. F. O. Carpenter. C. Scribner's Sons. 
How We are Sheltered. T. F. Chamberlain. Macmillan Co. 
Man and His Markets. Lionel W. Lyde. Macmillan Co. 
Rajtch Life and the Hunting Trail.' T. Roosevelt. Century Co. 
Stories of Industry, Vols. I and II. Chase and Clow. Educational 
Publishing Co. 






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